Unsung Hero
by Randomperson nb2
Summary: A hero is someone selfless, corageous, noble and loved by the masses. Or is it? Not all heroes are notorius and remembered throughout the ages, some are despised or feared. Yet they still fought for the greater good, many times having their feats never known. Does that make them any less heroic?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or High School DxD**

* * *

Slowly but steadily signs began to pop up from all the way from the Four Seas to the Grand Line that the world as it was known as was all but gone. Reports of pirate activity grew at an alarming rate at each day, the call for the search of riches and adventure being too tempting to be ignored. There was no way of denying what was happening.

The Great Age of Pirates was beginning.

The Navy could only curse their luck. The execution of the pirate known as the Pirate King, Gold Roger, was made public, in order to shatter the spirit of the outlaws that sprawled the seas and islands.

However, no one expected that before his demise, the man would light the fuse that was now considered the bane of all marines.

 **One Piece**. Said by the man himself that it was the amalgamation of his treasures, left somewhere in the vast horizon know as the Grand Line.

But it made no difference of how many pirates were out there. It was the Navy job to stop them, either locking them away of putting them down for good. They would protect the innocent and uphold Justice.

* * *

 **(Years later...)**

"Bwahahaha! This is the third time just today! Maybe you should put a bell in his neck as well!"

"Shut up! This is no laughing matter! And don't suggest such idiotic things, he isn't an animal!"

"Might as well be, the kid's got a sixth sense I tell ya. Only way for him to be able to elude you like that Wahaha!"

Marineford is composed of Marineford Town, where the families of the marines that are stationed here live and the Marineford Headquarters, a building that is a large multistory ancient Japanese-stylized palace, with the base bearing the kanji for 'Marines' with the Navy symbol in between. Around the building's four cardinal corners are a small mountain with a small building on top and a flag with the Marines' symbol placed on top of the roofs each.

Being the main base of operations of the Navy, it embodies all that the Navy represents and stands for and how its soldiers and officers should act.

Loudly laughing and bickering in the halls of said headquarters certainly wasn't the wisest thing to do, but given whom these two where, few would dare to say anything against it.

Not only because of the position they held in the Navy, but because they were akin to legends, one more so than other, but nevertheless, they inspire those below them.

They were Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, known as 'Garp the Fist', and Admiral Sengoku, known by the epithet of 'Sengoku the Buddha'.

Garp, who was having a blast at his old friend's predicament, is a tall, tanned man. Despite being in his fifties he still possesses a physically well developed body, along with a broad chest. The only indication of his age are the sideburns of his hair beginning to whiten, the rest of his unruly hair is of the color black, matching his goatee. Under his right eye resided his iconic stitched scar, similar to a "j". He wore the general attire of his rank, a suit and tie, his being a dark double breasted with a red tie, with a marine coat with epaulets over it, with the kanji for "Justice" plastered on it. The epaulets of most Vice Admirals are blue, but Garp's are black and red.

Glaring daggers at the Vice Admiral stood Sengoku, who was doing his best to avoid strangling the boisterous idiot in front of him. The Admiral is a tall, fair-skinned man, much like his friend, he sported an impressive physique for his age. While in Garp's case his scar was his unique feature, Sengoku's was his large afro hair. To complement his looks, he has black-rimmed glasses with round lenses and a moustache. His attire was similar to that of his coworker, a black double breasted suit with a blue tie and the marine coat over it.

"Its fine, its fine! It's not like the brat left the island, or the headquarters for that matter, so sooner or later he'll show up." Garp barked amidst his laughter

"This is the opposite of fine you dimwit! Having to worry about a kid snooping around aimlessly out of boredom is the last thing I need on my mind; I have a ton of other matters that need my attention!" Sengoku snapped back, the irresponsible streak that Garp has still surprised him after all this years

"Told you to not accept the promotion when Kong offered it…" The scared marine mumbled, sticking his pinky in one of his nostrils

*SLAP*

"GAAAH! Why did you do that for?!" He whined, holding against his chest his hand, that now was glowing red with a another hand imprint

Sengoku gritted his teeth at the childish display before him. "Have at least some decorum while in public! Act according to your station once in a while!"

"Don't be so uptight like that; it will only make you grow older faster." Garp waved off the remark

"You're the one here with white hair here!" Sengoku exclaimed, his eyes threatening to shatter the lenses in front of them from bulging so much out of frustration

"Uh?!" Garp's face blanked in surprise. "Then, forget what I said bwahaha!"

Having enough of the man's antics, Sengoku walked away.

"Don't be like that. I'll help you out with finding the kid." He said, matching Sengoku's pace

They remained for a while in silence before the sound of shuffling filled the corridor. Sengoku glanced to his side out of curiosity and saw the other veteran sticking his hand inside his suit, his expression a light frown.

"Aha!" His face beamed with a smile. He brought his hand out and with it a small bag.

He hastily opened it, and grabbed what was inside it. A rice cracker.

"(munch) (munch) I knew I still had a bag with me." He mused, thoroughly absorbed in the action of eating his snack. "Want one?"

He offered when he noticed Sengoku's dull stare on him.

The Admiral only owlishly blinked at the offer, noticing how much satisfaction the man was getting out of a handful of biscuits.

He then took out of Garp's hand the bag, raising it close to his face, suddenly opening his mouth and attempting to eat all of the crackers in one go.

"AAAAH! What are you doing?! I said only one!" Exclaimed the now desperate Vice Admiral, who jumped at the bespectacled man to try and save his precious snack

 **\\\**

"Oooh, this is place is huge! It bet that there are lots of awesome things around here!" Mused an euphoric voice

The voice was also young, too young to the point one wouldn't expect to hear it inside a Marine facility.

Running with a goofy smile and looking at everything that passed by him, was a nine years old boy, Hyoudou Issei. He was rather short- he firmly believes that he's just a late bloomer-, his weight was somewhere between being skinny and chubby, with short, spiky black hair. His big, innocent bright blue eyes were soaking in the new setting that he was in.

The hallways despite matching with the outside appearance of the headquarters, being Japanese-stylized, they were rather plain looking; the floor was composed of wooden boards, of high quality and well preserved by its pristine, the ceiling also made out of wood, but this time devised in small squares. All rooms had the same type of sliding door, all doors sporting the same image of a plant that resembled a bonsai. The lack of personnel roaming the corridors was something that came as a surprise and disappointment for Issei, who was hoping to see some "cool", as he put it, marines. He vaguely knew that the place he was in was where the big shots of the Navy could be found, so he presumed that there would be lots of strong people, capable of all kinds of stuff. But so far he had no luck in finding anyone like that.

For now, what was making the boy excited was the view beyond the wood rails. When he started venturing through the building, he was on one of the upper levels of the tower, meaning that the view encompassed the entire island. The town, which he noticed that was rather large, taking up a good chunk of the available space in the island, the sheer beauty of it mesmerized the young boy for a while, but what really made him smile was the sight of the sea. From one end to the other, all he could see was the blue color, stretching as far as the horizon went. The breeze carrying the salty scent was something he couldn't get enough of it, no matter how many times he smelled it.

"Ready, fire!"

*BANG*

The sound of gunshots made Issei involuntarily flinch and stop his daydreaming about the sea. His curiosity immediately got the best of him; he poked his head in between the rails to take a look at what was bellow him. What he saw made him smile from ear to ear.

Bellow him there was a large patio, full of marines in the middle of their training. He first spotted the group which had drawn his attention. Standing a few meters away from a group of dummies were the soldiers responsible for the loud noises of moments ago, they were now reloading their rifles as a higher ranking officer observed them at their side.

Scattered throughout the patio there was groups of marines focusing on different trainings; some were practicing their hand to hand combat, others were dealing with their swordsmanship, endurance and so on.

"Maaa, do we really need to do this today? Even Zephyr-sensei took a break so why shouldn't we do the same?" A tired voice inquired

"Enough of your inertia Kuzan. Only when you reach he's level you're allowed to consider such things." A steely voice replied

Not long after Issei saw three men walking through the patio and he could see with just a glance that they were different than the rest of the marines down there. They had a completely different clothing, while the others wore the standard sailor attire, theirs was anything but. From what Issei could see, since they were with their backs turned to him, they walked with one of them at the front, seemingly leading the small group. This one wore a red shirt and khaki pants and the other two, one with a suit of various shades of yellow and the other with a dark-blue trench coat, gave the impression of being less than excited about the whole ordeal.

Despite that visual discrepancy, what really made the trio stand out was the presence that they exerted. The rest of the marines that were at the patio couldn't even begin to compare with these three; they acted almost as a beacon, impossible not to notice. A good number of those that were practicing even stopped their activities to look at the newcomers.

The different attires, the absurd presence that could mean only one thing for Issei: those guys must be strong and know lots of cool stuff!

"Neee Sakazuki, I don't know why you want to get stronger so fast. You're already plenty scary with that scowl of yours you knooow?" A new drawled voice spoke up, belonging to the one with the suit

The now named Sakazuki didn't even bat an eye to compliment/jab at him. "Be as it may, getting stronger will only benefit the Navy against the pirate scum."

The trio moved to a more secluded spot of the patio, making them the most isolated group in there.

"Knowing you, you'll start without holding back won't you?" Asked the one with the trench coat

"Of course."

The one in the suit shook his head. "Gee, you can be worse than Zephyr-sensei you knoow?"

What happened next was something that Issei would never forget.

Out of nowhere the three marines began to physically change. Issei gaped when Sakazuki arm began to melt, his skin gaining a dark red color, his arm was barely recognizable as smoke began to flow off of it.

To only increase the boy's disbelief, the ground beneath the one with the trench coat began to freeze, the drop in temperature causing his breathing to become visible as he exhaled through his mouth, the ice starting to appear on one of his shoulders.

"Although it would be best to hold back as to not disturb our fellow marines don't you thiiink?" Added the suited one

He then crossed his arm, forming an X, and without delay his hands began to glow an extremely bright light, causing Issei and many marines to narrow their eyes or cover them with their hands.

Taking the light as a signal, the other two dashed forward, their attacks meeting each other halfway.

From then on, all that Issei could see was blurs of red, blue and yellow, his untrained eyes being unable to follow and comprehend what was happening. He only knew that they were fighting because occasionally a shockwave would ripple throughout the patio, knocking back a few of the marines.

Even if he couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening, Issei watched the spectacle with stars in the place of his eyes.

"OOOH! So badass! I need to get a closer look!"

Issei then stepped away from the rail and ran in order to find the staircase that would downstairs. He had reached the end of the corridor that he was in and was about to take the turn to continue his way.

"(sigh) Those knuckleheads have been warned not to train with their abilities in any of the patios without Zephyr and yet there they go." A stern voice reached Issei's ear but unfortunately, it was too late

*BUMP*

"Uff!"

He fell on his bottom after bumping with whoever was in front of him

"Are you alright Tsuru-san?"

"Now isn't this a rare sight around here?"

Issei looked up and saw three ladies in front of him. The oldest of the three seemed to be the one he ended up hitting, as one of the other two was fretting over her well being. The other young lady was staring at him curiously after her rhetoric question.

"It was nothing." Tsuru said in the same stern tone Issei had heard

Tsuru locked eyes with Issei, before the boy's gaze caved under its intensity and settle for throwing quick glances in her way.

The woman was rather tall and equally thin, having an aged appearance thanks to the wrinkles in her face, her fading blue hair was tied in a loose ponytail. If the situation weren't alarming, Issei would find funny the light orange shirt that she wore and was left hanging out, with its sleeves rolled up with a tie around her neck. She also had the marine coat draped on her shoulders, which meant that there was a good chance of her being a high ranking official; the epaulets of her coat had the purple color. Her lips were set in a thin line as her expression betrayed none of her thoughts as she still eyed Issei.

"If you are certain Vice Admiral." Added the concerned officer before falling silent behind the older woman

He sighed inwardly. While he knew little of the Navy's ranks, he knew that if the rank had in any form the name 'Admiral' attached to it, then the person was certain to be a renowned and influential figure. Just his luck to bump into one.

She stared at for a while longer before crouching; she then reached for him with one of her hands.

He tensed, thinking that he was about to be reprimanded, but was surprise when the hand simply landed on his head and started to gently ruffle his hair.

"Now what is a cute kid such as you doing around here? Are you perhaps lost little one?" She asked in a kind tone

Surprised by the changed in the woman's attitude, Issei only eyed her for a moment before taking notice of her question.

"N-not really, I was just looking around for anything fun." He blushed a bit under the gazes

The younger two officers giggled at his reasoning, finding him cute.

"I see, and did you have any luck with your search?" Tsuru asked, still ruffling his hair

"At first no," He sulked, but then beamed a smile at the three ladies. "But not long ago I saw some guys doing really awesome moves, I mean; I think that they were moves since I couldn't really see it, but even then…"

This time even Tsuru couldn't help but giggle at the boy, seeing him trying so hard to explain whatever it was that he had seen. She had a pretty good idea of what it was that he was mentioning, but it very funny to see him trying to put into words the Devil Fruit abilities he had seen.

"You mean those three idiots flaunting their skills at the patio?" She interrupted the boy's musings; otherwise it would take a while until he was finished

Under her hand Issei tilted his head, with a confused expression that was adorable to the three.

"I don't know about the idiot's part, but if you're talking about the ice man, shiny man and the one that was melting then yeah. I was on my way to take a closer look!" He exclaimed with a smile

Tsuru chuckled at the nicknames of the three newest Vice Admirals, finding the boy's cheery and innocent attitude endearing.

"Did a relative of yours brought you here?"

Issei nodded in affirmative.

"Then, let's make a deal: I will have to go down there to warn those three to stop before they destroy the place, so if you come with me and if, and only _if_ , you stay close to me at all times, you'll get to have a closer look. But then afterwards, we will have to look for whoever is responsible for you. How does that sound to you?"

Tsuru had already won him over when she offered to take him with her, no matter the conditions to do so. His smile reached his eyes.

"Really?! That would be amazing!" He exclaimed, almost jumping out of joy

The older marine then stood up and offered Issei a hand. "The let's go…"

She arched her eyebrows, silently inquiring the kid's name, something which Issei fortunately caught up.

"Issei. Hyoudou Issei!" He said with a bright smile

"A lovely name. I'm Tsuru."

"Nice to meet you Tsuru-chan!" He chirped

A warm smile graced her expression at the boy's honorific. "Likewise, Issei-kun."

Still smiling, Issei grabbed Tsuru's hand a pick himself up from the ground.

"ISSEI!"

"So that's the kid huh?"

Two new voices boomed from the other end of the corridor, Issei flinching at hearing his name being shouted.

Tsuru turned towards the direction of the shouting, having an idea who the newcomers were by their voices but curious as to how one of those two knew the boy.

And as she expect, she saw standing two of her oldest acquaintances; Sengoku, albeit a bit winded and frowning, and with his head popping out from behind the bespectacled man, was Garp.

"Oh? If it isn't Tsuru-chan." Garp commented

"Grandpa Sengoku!" Issei gasped before hiding behind Tsuru's legs

The female officers parroted what Issei had said, shocked at what had just been blurred out. Tsuru for her part had widened eyes at the new piece of information.

"I finally found you! Do you know on how much trouble you could have gotten yourself into?!" Sengoku exclaimed, ignoring the shocked ladies and marching towards his grandson

"Sengoku." Tsuru's tone was once more stern, cutting short Sengoku's stride

"Ah! Tsuru?" He dumbly said, finally taking notice of the person standing in between him and Issei

"Is what he said just now true?" She inquired with narrowed eyes, challenging him to say anything but the truth

"Y-yes."

"Then how could you just let him roam around without anyone supervising him?" She admonished the Admiral

Both Issei and Garp were holding in their laughter at Sengoku's abashed expression, who was feeling like a child being reprimanded.

"Wha- It's not like I allowed him to do so! In a moment he simply vanished from my office while I was dealing with the last of the paperwork regarding the reconstruction of the island after Shiki's invasion."

"Really, paperwork? That's your excuse for being careless with a child?" She stated, not impressed with the man's defense

Sengoku was about to argue when someone spoke first.

"UOOH!"

The two found a dazzlingly Issei staring intently at Garp, who looked at the kid with a baffled expression.

"I didn't do anything!" He declared when he noticed the stares that had settled on him

Tsuru glanced back and forth between where Issei now was and where he had stood moments ago, behind her legs. The boy really had a knack for moving swiftly, she now had a better understanding of how he gave the slip on Sengoku. That doesn't mean that he's excuse though.

"You're Garp right? Garp the Fist? The one who faced off the Pirate King right?" Issei showered the man with questions

Garp only nodded lamely, which made Issei glow even more.

"So cool! Is it true that only fight with punches? You must be so strong! What is it like to fight all this legends like Whitebeard?"

The man could only blink at the barrage that was being thrown at him.

"Ara, you saying it like that…" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed with all the praise

"Why are you getting all flustered?!" Sengoku barked before turning to Issei

Before Issei could react, he grabbed the boy by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him off the floor with ease.

"You're coming with me, enough of your little adventure for today." He decided

"Eh? No way Gramps! Tsuru-chan said she would take me to see those guys that were making those crazy moves! You can't do this to me!" Issei protested while flailing his arms and legs in the air

Not that deterred the Admiral in the slightest.

"I not only can but I will. Do not test my patience any further young man." The tone of finality was more than enough for Issei to give up all hope

Sengoku then started to make his way back to his office, still carrying Issei the same way he had picked him up.

"I'll see you around Garp-san, Tsuru-chan!" The boy waved the Vice Admirals off

The two waved back at the boy, watching him disappear with his grandfather.

"An interesting boy." Tsuru commented, her two subordinates nodding in agreement

"Well, he certainly has all the enthusiasm Sengoku lacks wahaha." Garp added his two cents

 **\\\**

Issei spent the rest of the afternoon with his grandfather, with no chance of escaping again as Sengoku seemed to know his intentions even before he set them in motion. That was something that really scared the life out of him; it was almost as if the old man could read his mind!

When Sengoku decided to call it a day, it was already night time. He picked Issei up again, to avoid him wandering around if something happens to catch his eye and made his way to Marineford Town.

That didn't mean the way back was boring for Issei. Being for the first time in the town, he took his time to observe it.

It was surprisingly… normal, unlike the headquarters, the houses and stores didn't follow the trend of Japanese style, rather looking like the same as any other town he had visited with his father, although the state of both the streets and buildings made it look like the town had just recently been build. The stores were buildings up to two-story, varying from bars to barbershops, coffee shops and such. Issei also noted that the town was very quiet, whereas in others places it would full of people speaking, animals such as dogs barking, occasionally a theft. Issei would be really surprised if the last one were to happen in here.

"Where are we going Gramps?" Issei asked, still taking in his surroundings

"To my house. Your new place, you could say." Sengoku answered, his eyes still looking straight ahead. "It's on a more isolated part of the town."

"Why's that?"

"The higher raking officers all have bigger houses on a more secluded space, to have more peace when not dealing with anything work related; its serves as a bonus that comes with your station." Sengoku explained

"What about the rest of the marines?" The boy continued his inquire

"The infantry and sailor division have dormitories inside the headquarters whenever they're stationed here. If a marine reaches the ranking of Commander and aren't assigned elsewhere, you're given the opportunity of having a house in a random part of this town, minus where we are going, to live by yourself or with your family if you have any."

"Then Tsuru-chan and Garp-san live nearby?" Issei asked expectantly

"… You could say that, although it is rare for them to stop by their houses here, since they're often on assignments all over the seas."

"On the seas? Must be nice…" Issei mused to himself in a low tone, but even then Sengoku was able to hear him and raised an eyebrow, curious with his reaction

 **\\\**

"Here we are. Feel free to look around while I'll fix us something to eat."

Barely having finished speaking and Issei had already set off to explore his new home.

The first space that he found was the living room, which had two light purple large sofas with a small coffee table in between them. It seemed like his grandfather wasn't much of a materialistic person, since there was a lot of empty space in the room. There were two doors aside from the one he just came in, one leading to the dining room and the other, which grabbed the boy's attention, lead to a medium sized open area.

The moonlight illuminated the courtyard; allowing him to see the walls of the gate that enclosed the house and delimited the open space. In one of the corners, it could be found a shed that Issei was sure to explore another day.

Issei lay down on the ground, facing the moon and the stars, simply relaxing as the cool breeze of the night passed by with the whistling of the wind. He closed his eyes, enjoying the peaceful moment.

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last long, as something began to poke at Issei's forehead. The boy frowned, eyes still closed, when the sensation suddenly stopped. His features were starting to soften again when the poking returned with renewed vigor.

"Knock it off!" He demanded, having had enough of whatever it was bothering him

He turned to face the responsible party; he froze at the unexpected sight.

"Beee."

Staring at him with its black orbs filled with the utmost innocence, completely unaware that his actions had bothered the boy, stood a goat, a baby one at that, given his small size and even smaller horns.

Not knowing what to make of Issei's facial expression as the boy stared at him, the goat simply tilted its head to the side; the boost in cuteness would surely make any girl swoon at him.

"Issei, dinner's ready." Sengoku made himself know in the small porch that lead back to the living room

Having ditched the suit and coat in favor of something more comfortable, Sengoku now wore a pair of loosen blue pants with a white tank top shirt, showing the result of years of hard work and training in his arms and torso.

"Where did he come from Gramps?" Issei asked while reaching for the goat's head with his hand

Sengoku glanced at the quadruped before brushing his afro with a hand.

"Garp gave him to me, said that maybe the little guy would make me loosen up a bit." He grunted, clearly annoyed with the antics of the eccentric man. "Careful though, he's still tries every now and then to bite stuff."

"Don't worry Gramps, Dad always says that I have a way with anima-" He declared

*BITE*

With eyes the size of saucers, Issei stared at his trembling hand, as his fingers, minus the thumb, comically grew in size and became as red as a tomato.

"YAAAH! My haaand!" He screamed before running in circles

Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose. He was sure that the number of his daily headaches would only increase from now on.

 **\\\**

After Sengoku calmed Issei down- in his own way- the duo moved to the dining room with the goat following closely the marine veteran.

Like the rest of the house, at least the part Issei had seen, the room was simple, with nothing that grabbed one's attention. On the center of the table could be seen a big plate with soba noodles, with a small bowl of dipping sauce in front of each chair.

They sat and gave grace for the food, a comfortable silence settling in the room afterwards.

"Hey Gramps, what's his name?" Issei asked while getting more noodles from the plate

"(slurp) To whom are you referring?" Sengoku replied

"The goat." Issei pointed at the animal with his chopsticks

Said goat was currently laid down in one of the corners of the room, content on watching the two humans. He showed no visible change at being the center of their attention.

"He doesn't have one. It's been barely two weeks since Garp dropped him here and I didn't have the spare time to worry about naming him."

"Then can I choose one for him?" The boy asked, jolting out of eagerness

"Make sure to pick a good one then." Sengoku conceded instantly

"Leave it to me Gramps!" He declared before returning to his food

Sengoku chuckled at his grandson. Even with his face almost inside of his bowl and his mouth full of noodles, it wasn't enough to hide his smile.

After finishing his portion, Sengoku rested the bowl in the table then crossed his arms over his chest.

"Issei, how was your father doing?"

The boy only blinked at the question, a lone noodle strip hanging from his mouth.

"(slurp) Dad? He was the same as usual, aside from being very excited with the new job he took before he contacted you about sending me here." He said before taking another mouthful of noodles. "The lady who hired him this time was also pretty nice, even if she seemed to be in a hurry; she even bought me some ice cream!"

"Did you happen to catch her name?"

"Hmm… I don't remember it. She did have white hair, it was really pretty. And I remember she said she's an archio-no, archeologist?" He half asked

"Archaeologist." Sengoku corrected, his hands balling into fists under his arms and his countenance turned stony

"Yeah that one!"

"I see." His grandfather simply said before closing his eyes

Silence once more settled in the room, but not like the first time, the mood in the room now had a grim feel to it. Issei was lost as to why his grandfather looked so serious, almost aggravated. It was making him uncomfortable, thinking that he said something wrong.

"Er… Gramps?" He called

For a moment that felt far longer than it really was Sengoku didn't make a single move or showed any sign of having heard Issei. And with that, Issei's discomfort with the current mood grew by the second.

…

"Yes?" Sengoku asked after what felt like an eternity to the boy

The mood suffered an immediate shift after that. Gone was the grimness, as was the hardened look in Sengoku's expression. He still maintained a neutral face as he waited for Issei to speak up.

"M-my baggage, the marine that spoke to me when I arrived took it." He explained

Sengoku nodded. "Momonga was off duty at that moment so I asked him to look after you upon your arrival, since I wouldn't be able to do so. Don't worry; your baggage is upstairs in your room."

"Can I go take a look?"

"Of course. I'll handle the table. It's the second door on the left."

Issei dashed from his chair to the staircase, the goat following him.

Even after the sounds of Issei's footsteps faded, Sengoku remained in the same position, pondering on what the boy had said.

He took his glasses off, resting them on the table and then rubbed his tired eyes. He released a long sigh.

"For you to even leave him with me… what are you getting yourself into Hikigaya?"

 **\\\**

"Hey, stop pushing! You've got plenty of space there!"

Issei was now in his bed that was quite big for him but very comfortable. He was now struggling with his new animal friend, who had taken upon himself to occupy more space than he was physically capable of.

When he reached his room, he found his baggage close to the closets that were on the wall at the side of the door. He hastily opened it and grabbed a spare set of clothes, wanting to go to sleep. He would deal with unpacking in the morning.

His room was spartan like, aside from the closets and bed it only had a desk with a chair and a curtain to block the light that came from out of the window. It didn't really bother Issei; he would have all time to make the room feel like it was his later.

They both stopped their little wrestling when they heard knocking on the door.

"Come on in." Issei said

As expected, when the door opened Sengoku came in.

"Everything alright in here? Is the bed any good?"

"We're good; the bed is the best Gramps! I think this is the biggest one I've ever seen."

"I'm glad you like it. I forgot to mention earlier that there is another person living here."

Issei perked up at that little bit.

"Oh? Where's that person then?"

"He's away on an assignment. He should be back in a few days." Sengoku said as he leaned on the closet

"What's he like then?"

"He's a…" He gave an exasperated sigh, not being able to find the right words. "You'll see when he comes back."

"Oh, okay then." The boy said

Not having anything else to add, Sengoku bid him good night before turning to leave the room.

"Hey Gramps?" He suddenly called

"Yes?"

"I want to become a marine."

Sengoku held his breath. His eyes widened, surprised by such an honest and upfront statement. He never pegged his grandson for one that would seek this lifestyle, given that so far in his life he mostly lived with only his father.

" _I have no desire of joining the Navy Pops."_

To this day Sengoku remembers the night when he son said those words, when he had decided to leave to see the world with his own eyes.

Sengoku smiled. Life really was full of surprises.

"Hoh? And why's that?"

Issei grinned, almost splinting his face, and puffed his chest out.

"I want to be strong! Strong enough to pull off those flashy moves that I saw earlier!" He exclaimed

By now, Sengoku already knew what "flashy moves" Issei was so infatuated with and despite knowing that the kid wouldn't be able to do those specific attacks, there were no shortage of techniques for him to learn and try to master.

"And why do you want to be strong?" Sengoku probed further

If possible, Issei's grin grew even further.

"I want to be just as strong as Mom!"

"… That's it?"

"Yep!"

*BONK*

"OW! Why did you do that Gramps?!" Issei demanded while rubbing the top of his head

"That alone is not a good enough reason to join the Navy."

"Eh?! Why not?! What would be a good reason then?" Issei asked curiously

"That is for you to find out." Sengoku said before walking out of the room

…

"Geez, hitting me out of nowhere." The boy said before lying down.

" _Not a good enough reason._ " He mimicked his grandfather. "What do you think he meant by that?" He asked his furry friend

"Beee."

"Figures. Good night." He said before accommodating himself in the bed

Out in the hallway, Sengoku mulled over the conversation as he walked towards his room.

"He wants to be like his mother." He shivered at the thought.

* * *

"BEEEE."

"Crap!"

"Issei get back on the couch." Sengoku demanded without even looking away from the documents on his desk

Issei found himself spending another day in his grandfather's office. The room had green mats and beige walls. Looming over Sengoku was a portrait the size of a plank, full of kanji's that meant "Justice Over All".

And just like yesterday, Issei was bored out of his mind, having nothing to do.

"But Gramps, I'm hungry!" He whined

"No you're not, you just had breakfast. Now sit down."

Issei sighed, dropping on the sofa. If he only he was able to sneak out of there…

"And you! I thought I could trust you, you traitor!" He accused

He closed in on the one who wronged him, brown eyes almost touching black eyes.

The goat blinked at the accusation before liking the boy's face, seemingly amused by his attitude.

"(sigh) Why do I even try?" He wondered

Not wanting to divide his attention between work and making sure Issei doesn't run off to God knows where, Sengoku put the animal on guard duty, so that every time Issei attempts to flee, the goat would go off like an alarm. For an animal that hadn't even lived a month with the Admiral, he certainly had learned impressive tricks.

"What to do, what to do?" Issei muttered

He continued to sulk for a while, until something in his mind clicked. He checked on Sengoku, who was absorbed with his work, paying him no mind.

"How about we make a deal?" He whispered to the animal

The goat, who at first was staring at nothing, slowly turned its head in the boy's direction, his eyes twinkling.

"I was planning on holding these until later, but I don't have much choice now."

He reached inside his pants pockets.

 **\\\**

"The Beast Pirates are becoming quite the nuisance." Sengoku commented as he piled the reports regarding pirate activity at his side

He grabbed another pile and, out of reflex, glanced at the sofas before returning to the paper in front of him. One moment later he froze, eyes widening as his mind finally caught up with what he had seen.

He snapped his head in the direction of the sofas. "Wha-!"

He almost jumped out of his chair before quickly reaching the source of his shock. A thick mark grew in his forehead.

"I don't believe it, that little rascal!"

Instead of seeing a boy and a goat on the sofa, there was only the goat. A goat that was happily munching on some infuriatingly familiar rice crackers, Issei's spot now filled with crumbs.

"Beee." The animal happily chirped

"ISSEEII!" The Admiral bellowed

 **\\\**

"Hehe I'm so going to hear it later." Issei concluded as he heard his grandfather outraged yell reverberating through the hallways

Once more running in the headquarters corridors, Issei tried to remember the path he took that lead him to that training patio, hoping to catch a glimpse of the marines training regime again.

Unfortunately, his enthusiasm of yesterday dimmed his attention to details, causing him to more than once stop to think about where he should go. This time he also saw a few people along the way, mostly low ranking marines, given that they wore the standard sailor outfit, that did show some surprise at seeing a boy as young as Issei roaming in a Navy facility, but made no move to stop or question him.

He eventually managed to find the same hallway that he had been while watching the training session the other day, and much to his glee, there were some people at the patio, albeit a smaller number and the three that had stood out from the rest were nowhere in sight.

This time Issei made sure of walking calmly when taking the turn at the end of the corridor, not taking any chances of going face first into someone again and was able to quickly find the staircase that would lead him to the training area.

Or so it should have been.

"Huh? What's this?"

Issei's feet glued to the floor, the hoarse voice making him hesitate. Just when he was reaching the first step of the stairs, another person was also about to do the same, only that he was coming from the opposite direction.

Even with Issei being on higher ground, he had to look up in order to see the face of who stood in way. The moment he did it, he immediately felt the urge to look away, as he was greeted with a piercing gaze. Having some experience in being under such intense stare, he was able to ignore the urge.

Issei recognized the person; it was one of the three he had briefly seen yesterday, the one that melted. He was sure that at one point his name was mentioned but he couldn't remember it, but what he did recalled was that of the small group, the red shirted one seemed the less friendly.

A remark that was only reinforced by the scowl aimed at Issei. For a moment, the man's eyes widened in genuine surprise, over what Issei had no idea, and then they quickly narrowed, aiming at the boy a dark look.

"The minimum age required to join the Navy is thirteen, something you're clearly not." He stated

He landed his feet on the last step of the staircase, making him seem even bigger and intimidating to Issei.

"What are you doing here brat?"

Although it was said like a question, his tone left no doubt that it was anything but. He was ordering the boy. Issei had been called brat before, mostly when he annoyed Sengoku, but it held no ill meaning. The way the man before him spat it, it was derogatory, demeaning.

Issei could feel a lump in his throat, the atmosphere was now oppressive, as if it was about to crush him, shrinking under the man's stare. Even then, he refused to look away, his gaze still locked with the scowling man. Even if it was pointless, maybe he was just frozen out of fear and couldn't budge a muscle, in his mind he refused to back down on that. That was something that his mother drilled in him, try to stand your ground.

The marine raised an eyebrow at the boy. On another situation, he might have found commendable the kid showing some backbone, however, this time this petty defiance only served to irritate him.

He forcibly grabbed Issei's forearm, the boy grimacing from the pain caused by it. He was able to still maintain his gaze in the man.

"I want an answer. **Now**." He sharply demanded

Not long after he said so, the area of the forearm which the palm of the marines hand was covering began to heat up. It wasn't hot enough to hurt, yet, but as it gradually grew hotter and didn't show any sign of stopping, a sense of dread griped Issei insides, not understanding what was happening.

Just when the heat was becoming unbearable, as if his arm was way too close to a furnace, a hand suddenly gripped the marine's pulse. Not a second later the heat lowered, as if it had never been there and the weight on his shoulders disappeared, the atmosphere once more light.

"And just what do you think you're doing Sakazuki?" A raspy voice interjected

Said marine clicked his tongue, albeit not loud enough to be heard by anyone else, cursing his luck. "I was just trying to get answers Zephyr-sensei."

At the honorific, Issei snapped his head in the direction of the newcomer. The chance of seeing the man who trained the antagonistic marine, who was undeniably strong, wasn't something he would miss.

When his eyes landed on his "savior", they widened so much that for a second he thought that they would fall off.

If Sakuzuki was one of the tallest person's Issei had seen up-close, then Zephyr was a giant for the boy. Not only that but even with his purple suit - which Issei found funny as it matched his hair color- it was easy to see he was more than physically apt, as his suit almost hugged his body.

Zephyr's defined jaw clenched, not satisfied with the Vice Admiral's actions in the least. His clear blue eyes were boring at Sakazuki, waiting to see if he would say anything else.

He threw a glance to Sakazuki's hand firmly wrapped around the boys arm. "Of course you were."

He applied more strength in his grip. Sakazuki narrowed his eyes, holding back a grimace at the pressure and released Issei's arm, Zephyr following suit afterwards.

"Go on ahead. The others are probably already there." He ordered

Sakazuki despite being clearly unsatisfied with this turn of events obeyed and marched off.

"I swear, out of all of them, those three are the most troublesome." Zephyr sighed before turning to the boy

Issei was momentarily distracted, as he was rubbing his arm in the place where he was held, trying to shake off the numbness that overcame it. Zephyr eyes softened at the sight and decided to kneel, attempting to look less intimidating to the boy.

"Sorry about that, that one is quite rough around the edges. Did he hurt you?"

Issei broke out of his musing at that. "N-not really, he did surprise me though."

He glanced at the now fading red imprint left on his arm. Zephyr frowned at that.

"I'm sure he did." He gave Issei a smile. "You're Sengoku's grandson aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

Zephyr gave a hearty laugh at Issei's shocked expression and ruffled his hair.

"Tsuru told about her encounter with you yesterday. You really left a good impression on her you know?

"Really?" Issei beamed

Zephyr nodded. "She spoke with an amused smile about you, something quite rare for her."

"You were trying to peek at the marines training again weren't you?" He questioned with a knowing smile

Issei bashfully confirmed.

Zephyr's smile grew a bit. "Then how about coming with me? There will be a lot of 'awesome moves' for you to marvel at." He quoted the boy

"Can I?" He wondered

Zephyr shrugged "Or I could just take you back to Sengoku..."

"No way! I definitely want to go with you!"

Zephyr laughed again before picking Issei up and plopping him on his shoulder. "Then let's go. Don't want to keep the others waiting for long."

 **\\\**

They soon reached an outdoor area, with a small group. Zephyr had told him along the way that when he found the boy and Sakazuki, he was heading to a training area to oversee how the men were fairing as they practiced.

The moment Issei's eyes landed on the men that were waiting, he thought that the training here would be worlds apart from what he had seen in the other patio. For one, most if not all of those present were dressed in a similar fashion to Tsuru, Garp and Sengoku, so the chances of they being high up on the food chain were good. The other factor was that, even for the nine years old boy, it was clear as day that all of them were battle hardened, some with scars to prove.

Amidst the sea of strangers, thanks to his temporary boost in height, Issei was able to spot some familiar faces. Sakazuki, still scowling; the one with ice, Kuzan with a bored look on his face and the "shiny man" as he dubbed him, since he didn't know his real name, with a mild curious expression as he regarded Issei. It was the last face that he recognized that he waved at, the one that greeted him when he arrived.

Momonga had been a pleasant surprise for the boy. When he first had seen the marine, even with his hair set in a mohawk that reminded Issei of a cockscomb and his pronounced mustache, it didn't diminished the man's serious demeanor, his sharps eyes staring at him as he traversed the docks in his direction while the marine personnel got off the warship. So it came as a surprise when the strictly business looking man casually asked Issei if he had enjoyed the trip in the warship and other trivial things as he took the shortest path to the headquarters, towards Sengoku's office. So by that small interaction, him alongside Tsuru, Zephyr and Garp were on Issei's "nice people" list, so to say.

At first, Momonga merely arched an eyebrow at the small bundle frantically waving in Zephyr's shoulder, only a moment later to realizing that not only it was aimed at him, but that he knew who it was. He cracked a small smile and gave the boy a slow nod, acknowledging his greeting.

Issei gave a smile of his own in response.

"Alright kid, soon everyone will be here and I'll speak a few words before they get started. Go sit on one of those benches by the corners of the courtyard to enjoy the show." Zephyr instructed

"Okay!" Issei replied, not really paying attention

As soon as he was dropped on the floor, he ran towards his acquaintance, completely ignoring what was said to him seconds ago.

Zephyr entertained the idea of calling him briefly, but discarded the thought. He had quickly caught on that the boy was going in Momonga's direction and having spent so much time with him during both his growth as a marine and a person, he was able to easily see traces of amusement in the stern looking man's expression.

"Heh, he really acts nothing like his grandfather." Zephyr mused

Until they started, he saw no problem with Issei speaking with one his pupils.

"Momonga-san!" Issei called as he approached said man

"Good morning." Greeted Momonga as he looked down at Issei. "Enjoying your stay, I hope?"

Issei nodded enthusiastically. "I've met some cool people!"

"Did you know?"

"Yep! Yesterday I've met Tsuru-chan and her subordinates, Garp-san and today Zephyr-san!" He listed while counting with his fingers to further express the amount

Momonga stroked his mustache as he took in what Issei said. "You certainly seem to like to interact with influential figures. Although, given who you're related to it shouldn't come as a surprise."

"Zephyr-san is as well known as Gramps?" Issei asked

He had already figured that the giant of a man had some pull, given how he dealt with Sakazuki and that he was here to observe the others, but he didn't think that it extended so far.

"He didn't say anything?" Momonga asked, surprised. "Zephyr-sensei has the same rank as your grandfather. He's one of the strongest in our organization, an Admiral."

Issei's mind halted at the news and as it tried to reboot, the information kept echoing in his mind. He was sitting moments ago on the shoulders of one of the Greatest Military Powers. Not like it was a first, since he had done the same with Gramps- but that didn't count! Gramps was… well, Gramps.

Momonga chuckled seeing Issei come to grips with this new piece of information.

"Alright, it seems we're good to go." Zephyr powerful voice declared

Barely a heartbeat later, every conversation ended, Zephyr receiving the full attention of those present. Even Momonga after ruffling Issei's hair turned towards the Admiral.

"It's good to that you're still all alive and kicking. Seems that you lot didn't slacked during my lessons as much as I initially thought." He said, half joking and half serious

"However, as I've said countless times and will repeat as much as I deem necessary, never and I do mean _never_ , take your strength for granted. In our world it only takes one small slip to find yourself facing the sharp end of a blade. There's always someone stronger than you out there, so keep honing your skills." He lectured and everyone, including an awed Issei, listened with rapt attention

Even if for most of them it was nothing new.

"To prove a point, we'll have a small demonstration before we begin." Zephyr stated when he saw that the men before him thought he was done

Well, not this time.

The group as a whole froze in their tracks. Some shuffled their feet; Issei could hear some muttering like "Oh shit", "Fuck me sideways" and so on. Curious, Issei glanced at Momonga at his side, who uncharacteristically looked unnerved, his hand resting in the handle of his katana that was sheathed and resting in his waist.

"W-what's wrong Momonga-san? Why is everyone acting like this?" He inquired, slightly worried

Said marine gave an exasperated sigh. "From the very first time we trained under his tutelage when he had the time to spare, he always started with this speech, a few changes here and there each time, but the core message was the same nevertheless. A demonstration however… I can't even remember the last time he did one."

"But one thing I clearly remember. Zephyr-sensei was never one to hold back, so whoever he picked to assist him had a taste of one of the Navy's finest prowess at first hand. It was enlightening, yes, but also boarded on fatal."

"But aren't you guys like, super strong now?" Asked a confused Issei, he failed to see why they were nervous

The experienced marine chuckled, amused with Issei's comment. "I think in this situation it would more correct to say that Zephyr-sensei is super-strong while the rest is just strong. And that is not enough, trust me, even Sengoku-san would have a hard time against him."

Issei gaped at that, but didn't have time to verbalize it.

"Sakazuki, come over here to help me out." Zephyr spoke

Many relaxed knowing that they wouldn't be on the receiving end of the Admiral's demonstration.

On the other hand, at sight of the red shirted man, he unconsciously began to rub his arm where he had been held earlier, watching apprehensively Sakazuki as he walked towards Zephyr.

His reaction was something that Momonga did not miss. He eyed his superior, whose eyes were intently following Sakazuki.

"I see." He murmured

Now things were making more sense. Zephyr was just using an excuse to give Sakazuki a thrashing.

Seeing the Vice Admiral stopping a good distance away from him, Zephyr spoke. "Now then, the main point here is about Devil Fruits. Always remember that no matter how impressive the power it gives to the user, it does not make you invincible." He then turned to the man in front of him. "Logias included."

Sakazuki scoffed at the subtle reprimand, arms folded over his chest. As teacher and student stared at each other, tension and anticipation grew in spades, though the only one to demonstrate being bothered by it was Issei, as the marines schooled their expression, calmly waiting.

"Are you ready?" Zephyr inquired

"Whenever you're up t-GAH!"

Issei had to blink multiple times to give time to his brain caught up with what had transpired before his eyes.

At one second Sakazuki was talking, then the moment he blinked not only he heard grunting but Sakazuki was skidding in the air before hitting the floor and brusquely rolling on it as Zephyr stood in his previous spot, with a fist raised in front of his chest.

Issei was shocked and confused. How could all this happen in the spam of a second?!

"I'm pretty sure that one of my lessons was to never let your guard down. Do I need to go through everything again with you, as if it were your first day in the Navy?" The Admiral admonished

Sakazuki slowly rose from the ground with a hand resting over his solar plexus as he regained his breath. He didn't say anything and merely ignored the attempt to get a rise out of him. His pride was already wounded by the punch he took like rookie moments ago, now it was essential for him to keep a tight leash over his emotions.

"It seems that some lessons you do remember. Good." Zephyr commented

"I remember more than a few." Sakazuki added dryly

"Now that's a relief."

The Vice Admiral scoffed once more. He then rushed towards his mentor and fired a barrage of both punches and kicks at him, not wanting to give him breathing room. While many would have difficulty to keep up with the sheer speed and strength that came with each of Sakazuki's moves, Zephyr clearly was an exception as he stood still, only moving his arms to stop the incoming attacks from various angles thrown at him, his own speed easily matching that of his attacker.

Despite the ferocity of the barrage, Sakazuki was leaving openings after each move, albeit for a very short period of time, but long enough to Zephyr notice and be able to act on it. As soon as he blocked one a punch, there was a small frame of time where the arm was retracting itself and left the torso unguarded, something Zephyr took advantage of.

The Vice Admiral gritted his teeth as he felt a fist burying itself on his navel. His well defined abdominal muscles doing little to cushion the blow, for a second he thought that it would power through and reach his spine. Fortunately, it stopped at one point, but only to push the marine back.

However, unlike last time, Sakazuki didn't double over in the air; his feet remained on the ground, dragging them as he tried to fight back the impetus created by the blow, damaging the tiles that passed under his feet.

"You're slacking with your Haki training." Zephyr stated, sounding disappointed

Sakazuki glared at his mentor, his eyes livid. Being accused of doing something that was typical of Kuzan's behavior was the last thing that he wanted. He forced himself to calm down. As bitter as it may be to admit, he didn't have the same mastery as Zephyr in Haki. Since that was the case, he needs to level the playing field with other means.

Suddenly, Issei felt as if the temperature around him was rising. It didn't take long for him to remember a similar situation that he went through, and more importantly, who was with him in it.

Issei watched Sakazuki's arm color change to a dark shade of red than that of his shirt. Just like the first time he had seen the marine, his arm morphed into something else, but this time he was close enough to see what it was.

As waves of the red liquid kept rippling throughout his arm, some of it fell of his clenched hand in a thin line. What made the boy catch on what it was when it hit the ground, it made a hissing sound and left a scorched mark with a small hole to complement.

Issei's eyes sparkled in realization. Magma; the man was controlling magma! How cool was that?!

However, his excitement was short lived and instantly replaced by unease. "Wait… was he going to use magma on me earlier?"

What the hell?! Not cool at all! He really liked having both arms! He wasn't allowed to this kind of thing… was he?

Unbeknownst of the boy's musings, Zephyr gazed at his student, who by now had both arms coated with magma, his hand now were several times bigger, with small waves dancing over it; its visage alone was menacing.

"There it is; your pride and joy." Zephyr said, cracking a grin

The reply he got was a literal fist of magma thrown at him, closing on him faster than a bullet fired from a gun. Despite the incredible speed, Zephyr still dodged it with ease by moving his shoulder out of its trajectory. The magma fist hit the ground a few meters away from the Admiral, melting the spot that it landed.

Sakazuki pressed on the assault, hurling more magma fists at Zephyr, their speed growing at each attack. Even then, the Admiral continued to nimbly dodge every single one of the fists despite his humongous physique.

As the fistfuls of magma continued to fly, Sakazuki punched the ground in front of him and left his arm there for a while. While Zephyr kept evading the flying fists, he picked up a new source of imminent danger- too immediate for his comfort- and hastily jumped sideways. Barely a second later, from where he jumped erupted from the ground a pillar of lava that showed no sign of ending.

From the waist down, Sakazuki transformed his body in a puddle of endless lava and as soon as he saw his mentor dealing with his latest move, he launched the upper part of his body in the air, the puddle remaining in the same place as a bridge of sorts of the incandescent red substance connected it with the Vice Admiral's mid section.

He cocked his arm back just when Zephyr turned to face him, aiming his enlarged fist at his mentor's head.

" **DAI FUNKA**!" Sakazuki roared

The same time his rocket size arm began to move towards its target, through the puddle he left above the hole he had created with his punch earlier, he manipulated the lava pillar, changing its tip to that of dog's head that also swiftly homed in Zephyr's direction, baring his fangs at his back.

The Admiral could feel the intense heat that was radiating from his pupil due to his close proximity. A few more seconds and both attacks would connect.

Just when it seemed that Zephyr would take both hits, his left shot backwards in a blur, hitting the hellhound with the back of his hand. The blow was strong to the point that it destroyed the lava construct, the remaining bits fell to the ground and left a mark.

Sakazuki didn't had the time to react to this development as Zephyr's right arm shot forward just as fast as the left one, his knuckles meeting the several times bigger ones in front of him. In this punch, however, he added a little more strength on it, so the result was slightly different.

Firstly, when Zephyr's arm finished its move, it created a massive wind pressure that sent Sakazuki flying and was strong enough to reach where Issei was standing and would push him back as well if he hadn't grabbed onto Momonga's leg for support. Secondly, similar to the hellhound, Sakazuki's arm was demolished by the blow, but it didn't stopped there; along with the arm, both his shoulder and a good chunk of his chest were gone, stopping close to his neck.

Sakazuki rose from the ground after changing his body back to normal, trying to balance himself with only one arm. He looked at his body, the hole now that stood in place of his right size, as lava leaked off of it while it began to rebuild what was decimated.

"Letting your guard down once again?"

Without him notice, Zephyr was already in front of him, with one of his leg raised above his head. An ominous feeling spread in his chest, and he couldn't but think that he was being sentenced to the guillotine as he looked at the leg.

Without any hesitation, the leg dropped in an axe kick, hitting Sakazuki in his collarbone. He gritted his teeth as his knees tried to withstand the insane pressure, cobwebs like fissures forming under his feet. However, it was a losing battle and his knees eventually gave in, allowing Zephyr leg to slam the marine on the ground hard. Very hard.

"AGH!" It was all the Vice Admiral managed to say before he was left breathless on the ground

By now, Sakazuki's body had been able to regenerate most of what was blown away by the punch, only his arm needing more time to heal, as it now was only a stump. He tried to once more raise himself off the ground but this time he was awarded with unbearable need to cough.

And as he did so, not only specks of saliva fell; to his shock, there was also blood.

"It's been since the last time you've seen blood hasn't it? Yours, that is." Zephyr guessed

"Well, that's enough for the demonstration. I think we've proven what I stated before." He boomed "You all know what to do next so get to it."

The group quickly spread throughout the patio, splitting themselves in pairs for the most part.

"That's our cue." Momonga spoke. "Take care of yourself Issei-san, until next time."

Issei waved him off as the marine walked towards one of his colleagues. Issei searched for Zephyr amidst the crowd that had formed and easily enough spotted a mop of purple towering most of the adults.

"Sakazuki, why did you join the Navy?" Issei heard the Admiral's question as he neared the man

He stopped in his tracks. The question that his grandfather asked him the other night ringed in his head. Issei stood still, intending on quietly listening on the two.

Sakazuki's face scrunched up, he eyed his mentor with mild irritation. "To uphold justice against all that oppose our world's order." He stated matter-of-factly

"And nothing else?"Zephyr pressed

The Vice Admiral's creases deepened. "There's nothing else that matters."

His tone gave the impression that this wasn't the first time that he had been asked something like that, and judging by his countenance, he didn't enjoyed one bit.

Zephyr didn't looked pleased at all with the answer- it seems to be a recurrent trend with these two-, but didn't voiced his feelings on the subject, contented with letting the man go join the others with a wave of his hand.

Issei approached the purple haired man. "Why the long face Zephyr-san? Is something wrong?"

Said man gave a tired sigh before resting one hand in his forehead and massaging.

"That brat's answer, I don't like it." He said bluntly

Issei was shocked by the answer. He didn't saw anything wrong with what Sakazuki said.

"Why? Isn't the Navy job to go after the bad guys?" He asked innocently

For a moment, Zephyr didn't say a thing. Thinking on how to explain in a way that a nine years old would understand.

"That's the job description alright. That's what's asked and demanded of everyone who enlists the Navy." He agreed

Issei's frowned, confused. "Then wha-"

"But what is the reason that the Navy exists?" Zephyr interrupted

Issei pondered on the question. He never really stopped to question that; for him it was almost as if asking why do people need to sleep. "To… catch the bad guys?"

"Are you telling me that or asking?" He quirked an brow in amusement

"Telling?" Issei said, not really sure of himself

That earned him a chuckle from the purple haired marine. "No, that would be our objective, our mission."

"Hmm, I don't know then." The boy shrugged

"We exist with the purpose of helping and defending those that can't do that by themselves. That encompasses you, the families that reside in this island and the whole Grand Line. We exist to fight back the evil that threatens the lives of the innocent." He explain

Zephyr now had wholeheartedly grabbed the boy's attention. "That's so cool!"

The man gave him a smile. "Right?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

"(sigh) This is more of my personal feelings on the matter; but I don't think that solely focusing on our objective is enough. If the Navy is to fight against the looming evil in our world, that wouldn't be enough. What we need is to inspire people, be something that they can depend and rely on without a shred of doubt when things get rough and I don't believe that this frigid and rigid way of thinking will be the answer. Nothing's black and white. When I joined, I believed that the Navy could be more than a simple military force and I still do. It's one reason why I keep fighting each day."

"Also, there are two persons that I want nothing more than to see them living in a better world. They make all the struggle worth it."

Issei stared at man before him with widened eyes. The sheer passion behind each words; words that surprised the boy, and stirred something inside him. He never had thought about what the Navy meant, but this ideal; it felt so… right to him, as if there was no other possible explanation for the matter in discussion.

He wasn't looking at a man, much less a marine, no.

He was standing in front of a living example of a hero.

 **\\\**

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventful, minus when Sengoku found Issei, he gave his grandson quite the tongue lashing for going off on his own again. Issei didn't tell him about his encounter with Sakazuki, not wanting to worry his grandfather anymore than he already had. Sengoku did seem to calm down a bit when he heard that the boy was with Zephyr for most of the time he went missing.

It was nighttime now as the two plus the goat made their way back home. Sengoku would every once in awhile glance at his back, since Issei was following him a few steps behind, his face showing a contemplative expression.

He didn't ask him what was bothering him. If it was something that he felt it was necessary for him to know then he will eventually speak up. Let the kid sort his thoughts alone first.

"Hey Gramps." Issei called

They had just arrived at the house and were leaving their shoes by the entrance.

"Yes?" Sengoku asked while loosening the tie around his neck

"I… I think I know why I want to become a marine."

*RIP*

Sengoku stared at what remained of his tie on his hands, an unfortunate accident due to his surprise. He calmly looked back in his grandson's direction, silently urging him to continue.

"I do want to be as strong as Mom- wait! I'm not finished!" He exclaimed in panic when he saw Sengoku raising a fist

He took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't want to be strong just for that anymore. I want to be strong so that I can help those that need it."

"Like some sort of hero from fantasies?"Sengoku asked, his tone not giving any of his thoughts

"A hero for whoever needs." Issei declared

The Admiral stared long and hard at Issei, who didn't avert his gaze for even a second but rather stared at his grandfather with a sharpness that he had never showed before. It reminded him a lot of her, with that piercing gaze of hers…

He could see it, the conviction behind his words brimming there.

"Good. I'll be looking forward to see how that plays out." He said, the approval evident in his tone

Issei smiled at his grandfather's words, happy that he acknowledged his aim. It was a short lived smile, because it was quickly replaced by a puzzled look as he watched Sengoku head for the staircase.

"Gramps what about dinner?" He asked, not having a good feeling about the answer

"You didn't think that I'd let you scot free after what you pulled today again did you?"

Issei face fell at that. "EH?! You're leaving me without dinner? What about you, won't you eat anything?!"

Sengoku smirked at that. "Oh I've taken care of that in the headquarters cafeteria. And I didn't forbid you from eating; I just won't be doing any of the cooking tonight."

"But I don't know how to cook anything!" He exclaimed

"A marine must always know at least the basic of the basic when it comes to food if they want to survive out in the sea." Sengoku said with a small smirk

"Is this some form of training?"

The smirk fell off immediately. "What? No, I said it was your punish-"

"Alright! I won't fail you Gramps! I'll cook dinner for myself!"

Issei then ran towards the kitchen, with his grandfather hot on his heels.

"Wait! Don't blow up the house!"

* * *

- **Dai Funka: Great Eruption**

 **A/N: Hyia there folks! It's been quite a while and I'm back with a new story. I'm really sorry for those that are waiting until now for updates on my other stories is just that when I found the time to sit down and write, the idea for this story came to me and wouldn't stop nagging me until I wrote it down. I'm deeply sorry for my long absence.**

 **Now, a few points regarding this crossover:**

 **.** **Issei won't be the only DxD character to appear on the story. However, it will take a while until the others appear so I ask of you a little bit of patience on this matter.**

 **.** **Some events that happened before Luffy's story starts will not happen in the same chronological order in here, they will be tweaked a bit to fit Issei's story but fear not, it will all (most of it XD) will end up in the same place as in canon when the Strawhat begins his adventure. One event that has been changed might be already noticed in this chapter, but who knows.**

 **Aside from that, thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoy it and that you're looking forward to the next chapter. If possible, please consider leaving a review, it is always good to know the readers thoughts on the story. I hope to see you on the next one and have a good day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or High School DxD**

* * *

"Haah today was no good as well." Issei admitted as he fell on his ever soft and inviting bed

Lying down at his side was his constant companion during the last couple of days, his grandfather's goat. He stared idly at the ceiling before flailing his arms and legs to vent his frustration off.

"Seriously, how hard can it be to find someone as big as him?"

For the last two days or so, whenever he had the chance, Issei would wander around looking for Zephyr. Despite not being able to enlist just yet, there were no rules that prevented him from start training and he was set on getting the charismatic Admiral to guide him.

But after the day he had met the purple haired man, he all but vanished from sight. He searched everywhere- that he could go at least- but it ended up being a waste of time. He even asked Garp, Tsuru and Sengoku if they knew of the marine's whereabouts. While the first had no idea and the second skillfully avoided answering, Sengoku flat out said that wouldn't say anything on the matter.

Issei almost bit his pillow; that was how annoyed he was with the concise and blunt refusal he got from his grandfather.

In all honesty, he was expecting that it wouldn't be easy to get what he wanted but he was committed to strive for his new found dream, no matter its difficulty.

*CREEEAK*

Issei snapped his head in the direction of the door as it was slowly opened. Confusion marred the boy's expression, did Sengoku forgot to say something to him earlier?

"What is it Gramp- eh?"

 **\\\**

"Persistent just like his father." Sengoku grunted as he readied himself to go to sleep

The kid had clung to him like glue, demanding him to speak up what he knew about Zephyr after he refused the first time he asked, trying to win by making his grandfather tired. If anything, his insistence only strengthened his opinion of keeping it quiet. However, it did some good to the veteran to see his grandson try the best way he knew how to work for his newfound dream.

"YAAAAAH! INTRUDER!"

"WAIT! WHAT THE-OW, OW!"

"BEEEE!"

Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose. The chance of actually being a robber here, in the heart of the Navy, was virtually zero, but if he wanted the screaming show to end quickly, it would be best if he intervened. He really needed the sleep; caffeine in the morning will only take you so far.

Cursing his luck, he made his way to the source of his nightly annoyance. The door to Issei's room was half opened and from the gap it left, he could see someone hastily moving from one corner to the other of the room.

As soon as he flipped the switch and light filled the room, Sengoku faced a scene that was straight out of a cartoon.

The "intruder" wasn't hastily moving around the room, he was actually panicked, after all, there was small human being stuck to his face while hitting the top of his head and grabbing some handfuls of blond hair and screaming. Of course this was his grandson Issei. To add to the scene, the pet of the house had firmly sunk its teeth at one of the person's butt cheeks.

"You broke into the wrong house!" His grandson shouted

"Knock it off! I can't breathe like this!" The muffled voice demanded

Surely a one in a lifetime scene… he hoped so.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked tiredly

Issei stopped his screaming and snapped at his grandfather's direction. "Gramps! He invaded our house! We need to arrest him!" He declared, still hitting the person in the head

"(sigh) 'We' need to calm down. Now get out of his face before you seriously hurt him."

Issei scrunched his face. "But Gramps he's-"

"Now Issei." Sengoku cut him off, staring at him sternly "That's valid for you as well fur ball."

The two flinched at the tone but obeyed nonetheless.

The moment they were off of him, the blond fell to the ground, relieved to now being able to breathe with ease. He then eyed Sengoku, allowing a small smile to form.

"H-hey there Old Man. Quite the reception haha…" He laughed weakly

"I thought that you would only be back by tomorrow Rosinante."

"So did I but the weather was very favorable for sailing so we reached the base earlier than expected." Rosinante explained

"I see, so this mess happened purely by chance." Sengoku concluded with Rosinante nodding in agreement. "Come along then, the remaining room is yours. We'll leave introductions for tomorrow."

The two left the room without saying another word, leaving a flabbergast Issei behind.

The boy blinked owlishly. "It was solved just like that?"

"Beee."

 **\\\**

"So, who's the little guy?" Rosinante inquired as they walked through the corridor

"… My grandson."

Rosinante froze and stared incredulously at Sengoku.

"What?" The Admiral asked when he noticed that the blond stopped

Said blond's face slowly gained a smirk. "Hahaha he looks nothing like you! Where's the afro on his hea-"

*BONK*

"UGH!"

* * *

Despite the ruckus that took place in his room, Issei was able to sleep just as easily as any other day when he went back to bed. It was only when some rays of sunlight managed to pass through the curtains of his window and bath him that he stirred from Morpheus realm. He rubbed the sleep off his eyes as he basked under the stray rays of light and got up to wash his face in his bathroom.

When he arrived at the kitchen, Issei was surprised to only find his grandfather at the table, with breakfast served. The serving today was more western like as there was eggs, bacon, bread displayed at the table, its delicious scent carried over all the way to the door making the kid's stomach rumble.

"Morning." Sengoku greeted, opening the newspaper. "Take a seat before it gets cold."

"Good morning Gramps…" Issei reached for the nearest chair, his eyes roaming every inch of the kitchen

"Rosinante already left earlier to join with the rest of the marines that were with him in his assignment to give a report to their direct superior." Sengoku said as if reading the boy's mind, without taking his eyes off the paper in his hands

"Oh okay." The boy replied a bit miffed that he wouldn't get to interact with the blond

Sengoku eyed his grandson after hearing his slightly disheartened answer. "Don't be like that; you'll have plenty of time to talk with him later. I'm sure you two will hit it off spectacularly."

"You really think so Gramps?" Issei asked eagerly while grabbing some bacon

"Oh yes, you two have a lot in common." The Admiral said offhandedly

"Like what?"

"You both are blockheads at times." He said without any hesitation

"That's aweso- hey! That's not cool at all Gramps!"

Sengoku only flipped through his paper at the boy's indignant shout.

 **\\\**

Aside from the friendly bickering, breakfast went without a hitch. The duo found themselves once again in the Admiral's office, with Sengoku dealing with the curse known as paperwork while Issei rested on the sofa.

The boy would admit that he wasn't as bored this time like the other days, as he had in his hands a book that told the history of the Navy, of how it evolved throughout the years.

It was an interesting read, if not wearisome given the amount of information thrown at the reader. Although most of it was new to Issei, he did remember his mother telling him some bits here and there whenever she spent time with him.

He did find odd that today his grandfather decided to leave the goat behind, back at the house, instead of bringing him to act like the alarm he has been for the past days. Not that he was going to complain, since it gave him better odds of getting out of the room without causing a fuss and continue his quest of looking for Zephyr.

Both stopped their activities when someone knocked on the door.

"Come on in." Sengoku said

For Issei, this was the first time anyone came to his grandfather's office so he was curious to see who was behind the door. Also, after spending the rest of the morning immersed in his reading, he could use some distraction as he was growing tired of the book.

After the Admiral granted entry, the opened door revealed the third resident of Sengoku's household, Rosinante. The blond calmly entered the room with a stoic expression, but after surveying the office and noticing that the three of them were the only ones there, he allowed himself to relax, his previously stiff posture now more laidback.

"You've asked me to come here after the debriefing was over; do you need my help with something old man?" Rosinante asked

"Yes, actually I do." Sengoku said as he stood from his ornamented chair. "Were you tasked with anything for today?"

"Not really, Real Admiral Yamakaji gave the day off." Rosinante answered

"Great. I have a meeting-" The Admiral glanced at his wrist watch. "Really soon it seems."

Rosinante raised an eyebrow at that, today there wasn't any official meeting between the higher ups happening so it must be personal business. He knew better then to pry though.

"You want me to keep an eye on the child?"

"Correct." Sengoku agreed; both marines ignoring Issei's fuming expression at being politely called a brat. "Despite there being more adequate options given your… less than desirable maturity on certain matters, this is a good opportunity for you two to get to know one another."

Rosinante laughed awkwardly under Sengoku's pointed look but made no comment over it, preferring to move the conversation onwards. "Uh yeah, I can do that. At least then I can try and repair the not so great first impression he must have gotten of me."

"You'll just be setting him for disappointment later on." Sengoku added before picking his marine coat from his chair and draping it over his shoulders.

"Now that's just rude old man. You're making me sound worse than I really am." The blond defended himself, although not offended in the slightest by the comment.

"Well, I need to go, Issei, behave yourself with him. I will see you two later."

And with that, the Admiral left.

""So formal…"" The two said at the same time

Rosinante looked a bit surprised at the coincidence before chuckling. "I guess I should properly introduce myself. I'm Donquixote Rosinante, currently Lieutenant Junior Grade."

He offered the boy his hand. Issei jumped off the sofa and shook it enthusiastically.

"I'm Hyoudou Issei." He said before frowning. "That's a long name, your rank that is."

The blond laughed at that. "Yes it is quite the mouthful, but still beats being the lower rank of the commissioned officers."

"What's the last one?" Issei asked curiously, he never bothered to try to remember the last ones when his mother told him all the rankings

"Ensign."

Issei stuck his tongue out as if he had tasted something sour. "Sounds dull."

"That is one way of putting it." Rosinante conceded

"I'm plan on being a part of the Navy too!" Issei declared with a smile

"Is that so? Well, if you're anything like the old man I'm sure you will fit in just fine." Issei beamed at the vote of confidence

"You've been a marine for a while right?" Rosinante nodded in agreement. "Then, do you have any stories to tell? My mom would sometimes tell me some of her life in the Navy and they're always cool!"

"I do have som-"

*GROWL*

Issei brought his hand to his stomach, a tinge of red coloring his cheeks.

"How about we get something to eat first?" Rosinante offered

 **\\\**

Issei sat at one of the many available tables, humming a tune and tapping his fingers on the cold metal before him as he waited for Rosinante to come back with their servings of food.

The boy had gone to numerous restaurants from various cities and islands with his father, some expensive and high class ones at that. But none came close to the refectory he was now in.

The spacious hall was filled by the sound of the chatter of each of the occupied tables. With a quick glance, Issei counted more than sixty persons on the refectory and according to Rosinante, they were lucky that the place was empty, otherwise finding a good table would be a struggle. It made the boy wonder just how many people the place could hold and marvel at its sheer size.

As he watched the small crowd that engulfed the buffet, he saw his blond charge nimbly avoid bumping into someone while holding a tray full of food on each hand.

"There you go a portion of the fresh batch of curry." Rosinante said before putting one of the trays in front of Issei

"Thanks!"

"If you want more after finishing your plate feel free to ask." The blond added

The boy nodded and scooped a mouthful of curry. As he ate, he mused about his new acquaintance. On the way over, they chatted a little and to Issei's surprise, Rosinante was only a teenager. He reacted like this because for a teenager, the blond was ridiculously tall, his head reaching Sengoku's shoulder. Another thing that caught the boy off guard was the blonds' attitude.

Now, Issei didn't have much in terms of past experiences with interacting with other kids, much less teenagers, but he was pretty sure that most of them wouldn't give off the feeling and act with the same calmness and maturity that Rosinante displayed towards Issei.

"Are you sure you're only sixteen?" Issei blurred out after gulping another mouthful of curry

Rosinante chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I am."

"And you're already a commissioned marine! That's like, freaking awesome!" Issei raved

"Being trained from scratch by your grandfather does make it easier to breeze through the initial divisions."

Issei perked up at Sengoku's name. "Gramps trained you? What was it like?"

"He helped with the basic stuff. As a teacher he is…" Rosinante grimaced; the memories of that period weren't all pleasant. "He's strict, to say the least. But there's no denying he's a good mentor."

Issei tried to picture the scene by what Rosinante described; his usually stern looking, no nonsense grandfather barking to the blond how to properly do the exercise he passed.

Yeah, he could totally believe that's how Sengoku would teach.

"And how did you meet Gramps?"

Rosinante stopped the spoon halfway to his mouth, with his eyebrows arched. He slowly rested the utensil on his plate. He kept his gaze fixed on his food for a moment, contemplating the question posed to him.

"When I was younger, about your age maybe, I was lost." The blond started

"Lost?" Issei repeated

"Yes, completely lost. My world had crumbled all around me; I didn't know what to do and had no place to go. All that I did was cry, hoping things would get better." He gave a sad smile. "Funnily enough, because of my wailing, the old man found me and took me with him. He gave me a place to stay while he could have simply moved on; after all, unfortunate people are found almost everywhere. But he did it anyway."

"All that I am and have now, I owe to the old man."

Rosinante's face was marred with melancholy as he played with his food. Issei stopped his inquiry as it was painfully obvious that the blond was in a world of his own with his thoughts.

Also he didn't know what to say. When he asked how the blond knew his grandfather he never expected a history of this scope, he had no idea how to react to such a shocking tale. Opting to take the safest route; he decided to focus on his food and give the teenager his moment alone.

Despite the meal he was eating now definitely was some of the best curry that the boy has eaten so far in his short life, after a few spoonfuls the spiciness was getting to him. Fortunately, his charge had brought along a full glass for him to satisfy his thirst.

He reached for the glass with one of his hands and brought it close to his face. Before his lips touched the glassy edge, his eyes landed on the liquid content… and his orbs grew like saucers.

He hastily distanced the glass from him and continued to stare at it.

"Are you okay?" Rosinante asked

Apparently his reaction was enough to end the blonds' trip through memory lane.

Issei left the glass on the table, his face now having a blank expression. "That's milk."

"Yes it is. Why, is there a problem with it?" Rosinante asked, his tone dripping with amusement

"Can I get something else to drink?" Issei avoided answering as he pushed the glass away from him

"Why won't you drink it?" The blond countered while pushing the milk back towards Issei

The boy glared at the glass as if trying to destroy it. "I hate milk. There's no way I will drink it."

At that declaration, a cheeky grin appeared on Rosinante's face. "You know you need to drink this stuff right? Otherwise you'll always be a beansprout."

A thick mark formed in Issei's forehead as he aimed at the marine a crossed expression. "That's not true! I don't need this damned thing's help, it's gross!" He ranted before trying to shove the milk away

Rosinante's grin only deepened. "Now don't be like that. I already cut you some slack by not putting any vegetables on your plate and they are essential at your age since you're a growing boy." He mockingly lectured

"Oh yeah? And what about you, you're still on your growing phase too, so why aren't you eating vegetables or drinking milk?" Issei countered, hoping to turn the table on the blond

The boy felt that he failed to do so when instead of Rosinante's grin fading, it just change from cheeky to smug. "I think we can agree that I don't really need it."

… Scratch that whole maturity thing.

Issei continued to throw baseless arguments to defend his opinion on the white liquid, only serving to further the blonds 'glee.

"Is good to see you're as lively as ever Issei-kun."

The argument between the two boys ended there as they turned in the direction of the voice.

Standing beside them in all her glory was Vice Admiral Tsuru, her slightly wrinkled face aiming at Issei a warm smile.

"Tsuru-chan!" Issei exclaimed

He was so elated to see the renowned marine that he forgot the squabble from a moment ago, his grumpy mood gone.

Her friendly demeanor however, disappeared the moment her eyes landed on Rosinante, her usual stern expression resurfacing full force. The temperature around the table seemed to drop several degrees, as if a blizzard had befallen them.

The blond was eyeing anywhere but Tsuru's direction, making the minimum amount of movement, as if trying to make himself invisible. Suddenly the architecture of the refectory appealed to him in ways he never imagined.

"I see you've returned in good condition Rosinante." Tsuru's tone could freeze Hell itself

Said person flinched when his name was spoken, he hesitantly glanced at the woman with an uneasy smile.

"Y-yes, we did suffer from bad weather a couple of times but all in all it was a relatively calm voyage. Were you by any chance worried about my well being?"

"No." Was the curt and blunt answer he got from the Vice Admiral. "I hope that disciplinary lessons you've had were enough. Or should I expect to be called again to aid you?"

The way Tsuru worded her last sentence sent shivers through both boys' spines. Rosinante laughed awkwardly but didn't answer, to which Tsuru narrowed her eyes.

"Anyway," She started, the coldness gone from her words. "It's a good thing I found you here Issei-kun."

"Eh? Why's that?"

"It took some time but tomorrow I will have something for you."

"Cool! What is it?" Issei asked with a smile

"Let's just say that I approve of your latest pursuit." She answered with a smile of her own. "I'm afraid that I must go now. Enjoy the rest of your meal."

She turned towards the exit and while walking she added. "The milk included."

Issei groaned in defeat. Everyone was against him.

 **\\\**

"Punctual as ever eh Sengoku?"

"Zephyr." The bespectacled man greeted. "How's the family?"

"They're well, thank you for the concern. They will leave Marineford tonight to go spend some time with my mother in law in some island on East Blue." Zephyr cheerfully explained

Sengoku nodded. He knew that the reason for the disappearance of the purple haired man in headquarters for the last couple of days was that he was spending as much time as possible with his wife and son before they left to visit the wife's family, since said group refused to move to the Navy's main base when Zephyr offered.

Still, he asked anyways because his fellow Admiral practically glowed when he talked about his family, they were his biggest treasure after all. But unfortunately, this wasn't the only topic for this meeting.

"I heard that Issei had a run-in with Sakazuki." Sengoku stated, his tone neutral

Zephyr sighed. "Yes, it certainly wasn't one of the friendliest meetings."

"He threatened him." Sengoku rashly replied, his tone now with an clear edge

"That he did. And he was punished for that as I'm sure you heard of as well." Zephyr said just as rashly. "Or do you think that it wasn't enough? You think that something more drastic should be done because it just so happens that _your_ grandson was involved? How will that look?"

They remained in a standoff within the otherwise calming silence of Zephyr's office, both gazes locked with one another.

"(sigh) Did you know that Issei's running up and down looking for you?" Sengoku asked, silently relenting from the previous matter

Zephyr uneasily scratched his cheek. "I've heard about from Tsuru. She said that he wants me to mentor him, to start preparing him for when he enlists. Frankly, I don't mind doing that, in fact, training him would be an honor, but the problem is," He carefully eyed his friend. "Are you okay with that?"

Sengoku rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to find the appropriate words. "Honestly, I would love nothing more than to train him myself. But the impression you left on him was enough to change his otherwise shallow reason to enlist into something meaningful, albeit too idealistic in my opinion. For that, I'm grateful to you."

"I also believe that you will be more than capable of using his potential to the fullest and make him one of the finest of the Navy. Be sure to work him to the ground."

Zephyr chuckled at the praise. "I see. If you say that much then I will make him almost regret his decision."

"I expect nothing less." Sengoku said with a grin

* * *

The next day Issei jumped out of back, his curiosity over what was Tsuru going to give him today carried him through his morning routine with ease. He was practically hopping when the trio made their way through the city.

When Sengoku inquired the reason for his current behavior, Rosinante took upon himself to explain what had happened during their time in the refectory. The Admiral was mildly surprise at Tsuru's actions but overall pleased to know that his old friend took a shining to his grandson.

So when one of the many female subordinates of the Vice Admiral stopped by Sengoku's office claiming that Tsuru had asked her to fetch Issei, the Admiral gave his consent without a second thought.

Issei followed the lady in silence, not having anything interesting to chat with his companion, his mind occupied with the possibilities of what his gift might be. He only noticed that they've reached their destination when the marine called him out, urging him to go inside saying that Tsuru was inside waiting for him.

The office was smaller than Sengoku's but it was just as simple and practical when it came to furniture and decoration. Like in his grandfather's office, only the essential was there.

"Hello Tsuru-chan!" Issei greeted cheerfully

"Good morning to you as well Issei-kun." Tsuru returned the gesture from behind her desk. "I'm glad to see that Shinki had little trouble finding you."

"Un! I was just lazing around with Gramps."

"Yes, Sengoku is keeping a tight rein on you isn't he? Something that you aim to change as fast as you can isn't that right?" Tsuru probed while steepling her fingers

"Yup!" Issei blinked. "But you already know this don't you?"

"Humor me, if it's not too much to ask." Tsuru requested

Issei shrugged, he didn't really mind repeating it. "I want to find Zephyr-san so that he can train me, so that I can become a strong marine in the future that can help the innocent!"

Tsuru nodded, satisfied with the answer. She rose from her chair, grabbing a bag that was on the floor, leaning on the desk.

"It isn't exactly correct for you to have this now, but since you feel so strongly about enlisting, I think that this can be overlooked." She stated before handing the boy the bag

Like any other child acted when getting a gift, Issei shredded the bag open, the curiosity and anticipation to know what was inside the wrapping eating him from the inside out.

"Wow…" Issei whispered with wide eyes when he finally saw the bags content

He had seen some people wearing one of those, albeit several sizes bigger. He thought it was so much cooler than the simple standard uniform, with that sleeveless sailor shirt. In his hands he held a folded Navy jacket, with a blue neckerchief on top of it.

"It took me longer than I expected to get it because there usually aren't any of these on your size, so this one had to be made especially for you."

"Thanks a lot Tsuru-chan! You're the best!" Issei exclaimed with a smile that almost split his face in two

"I'm glad you liked it."

The boy unfolded the jacket in his hands, to take a better look at it. On each arm, there was a blue strip that went from the shoulder all the way down to where his wrists would be. On its back was stamped the Navy symbol.

He quickly opened the jacket and threw it over his shoulders. It was little loose, meaning that he would still be able to wear it for a little longer when he grows up, but aside from that it fit him perfectly.

"Let me help you with that." Tsuru said as she saw Issei struggle with tying the neckerchief around his neck

After making sure it was properly tied, neither too loose nor too tight, she took a step back and gave eyed him from head to toe.

"It looks good on you; you certainly look a part now." She complimented

"All that's left is to get super strong!" Issei declared while punching the air

The Vice Admiral chuckled at the boy. The sound of the door opening caught her attention, revealing her subordinate, Shinki.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the battleship is already prepared with everyone on board Tsuru-san." Shinki explained before gushing at the site of the mini marine Issei

Issei blinked. "Eh? You're leaving Tsuru-chan?"

"Yes, there's a rookie pirate crew that's starting gain recognition faster than its peers in the Grand Line."

"I see." Issei said, hitting a fist in the other hand's palm. "So you're going to kick their asses?"

Both marines chuckled at the boy's earnest question. "There's a low chance of that happening Issei-kun. We're after information first and foremost."

"That sounds boring." Issei sulked

"Arduous." Tsuru corrected the boy while flicking his forehead. "But necessary. Come, I'll take you back to Sengoku's office."

"There's no need to that Tsuru-chan, you have your friends waiting for you at the ship. I know the way back, so I'll be fine!" Issei said while massaging his forehead

Shinki smiled at his choice of word for the Vice Admiral's subordinates while Tsuru merely raised an eyebrow, skeptical that the boy really remembered the way. That, and if he really would go back to met with his grandfather instead of walking around.

"Trust me; I want to show Gramps what you gave me!" The kid added

Tsuru stared at the boy for a moment, before shifting her glance to her subordinate, silently asking her opinion on the matter. Shinki shrugged her shoulders, leaving the decision to the more mature woman.

"Fine, I'll trust in your words." Tsuru finally said

Issei smiled, happy to hear that she had given him a vote of confidence. The three moved towards the door and while Issei prepared to take the right, Tsuru and her subordinate turned to the left.

"Bye bye Tsuru-chan, Shinki-chan! Be careful out there!" He waved them off

The two marines bid their farewells as well.

"Goodbye for now Issei-kun. Do try to stay out of trouble."

And with that, they went their separate ways.

 **\\\**

True to his word, Issei did know how to get back to his grandfather's office and was doing just that right now. As he passed by the numerous corridors, the path that he had taken earlier on with Tsuru's subordinate came back to his mind.

"So you got yourself a Devil Fruit huh?"

"Yep! And I'll tell you this much, it's a pretty sweet power."

"I'll believe it after I see it."

Just as he was about to take a turn to the right, Issei heard a conversation that was happening on the opposite end of the corridor. Despite not recognizing the first voice, the second one he was sure that he knew.

The boy turned to the left and like he suspected, walking with his back facing Issei was Rosinante with a small group of marines, who Issei didn't really paid much attention. The moment he saw the blond, all he could think was the chance that had appeared for him to show off what he had gotten from the Vice Admiral.

"Rosinante! Wait up!" The small group came to a halt at that

The blonds' face was a mixture of curiosity and surprise when he saw the boy small frame running through the corridor.

"Ise? Shouldn't you be with your grandfather?" Rosinante asked, fearing Sengoku's wrath if Issei had truly escaped from his office

"Don't worry, Gramps knows that I left his office. He gave the okay so that I could meet with Tsuru-chan to get my gift." Issei explained

"I see. And I assume that this is what she gave you." Rosinante gestured to the kid's to the marine's jacket

Issei nodded. "Pretty cool right?" He asked as he gave his new cloth a look over

"They're ignoring us; as if we didn't exist." A rough voice cut off the blonds' reply

"Now now, despite him being a creep, I'm sure Rosinante has some manners." A second, softer voice spoke up

Issei finally noted that he wasn't alone with the blond. Rosinante's shoulders slumped at the insult thrown at him as he glanced at his side.

He saw two persons staring back at him. One was enveloped by the smoke of the cigar that hanged from his mouth stood a man with a buzz cut, while he didn't seemed to be as tall as Rosinante, he couldn't be called short. His sharp eyes that were locked on the kid complemented his no nonsense expression, making him look intimidating, but not as much as Sakazuki in Issei's opinion.

The other was a lithe woman and just like the man at her side, she was also smoking, the difference being that hers was a cigarette. She sported a serious expression, albeit with a tinge of amusement in her eyes and the small tug in at the corners of her supple lips. Two bangs of pink hair at each side framed her beautiful face, the rest being tied in a ponytail. Issei couldn't help but think that if Tsuru was younger, she would look very similarly to the woman in front of him.

Both seemed to be slightly older than Rosinante and also wore the basic marine uniform like the blond. Issei blinked a few times before looking back to the Lieutenant Junior Grade.

"Who's the grumpy guy and the pretty lady?" He asked

In a second, half of the "grumpy guy's" cigar burned through, becoming ash as his brow twitched while the compliment given to the pink haired lady earned the boy a small smile.

Rosinante snickered at the man's expense. "These here are my friends. The one with the cigar is Smoker and the pretty lady as you dubbed her is Hina, both are Lieutenants."

The blond then turned to the other two marines. "This here is Hyoudou Issei; he's the kid I've told you about that's living with me now."

When the information sank in, Smoker's brows arched while Hina's eyes grew wide.

"You're Admiral Sengoku's grandson?" Smoker asked

"I sure am!" Chirped the boy with a smile. "It's nice to meet you two!"

Smoker grunted at that.

"Hina surprised." The pink haired lady said, drawing attention to her. "I never expected that his grandson would be…"

"Short and loud?" Smoker said

"Look nothing like the man in question?" Rosinante offered

Hina stared at Issei's curious crystal blue eyes for a while, until a glint shone in her eyes; a glint that caused Issei to take a step back, his instincts trying to warn him of his impending fate. Before the boy could do anything, Hina discarded her cigarette and glomped him, raising him in her arms.

"I never expected him to be this cute, especially with this uniform." She gave him a once over.

Her hold on Issei tighten, much to the boy's growing embarrassment and discomfort. "It's like he's the Navy's mascot!" She gushed

It was an interesting site for the male marines to see the usually collected young woman to show this much affection.

"By your clothes, should I expect you to see you out there in the sea in the future?" Smoker inquired

Issei stopped squirming within Hina's embrace. "Yeah, I want to become a marine!"

"Think you can do it shrimp? This isn't a child's game."

The boy's embarrassment now forgotten, he frowned at the Lieutenant. "Don't doubt me just because I'm small! I'm going to become big and strong just like my Mom, strong enough to kick your grumpy ass!" He declared while pumping his fist up in the air, still in the pink haired marine's arms

Smoker huffed as he took a long drag of his cigar, but looked satisfied with the answer.

"There you go again, you sure love to mention your mother don't you?" Rosinante observed

The other night, the blond had noticed that more than once the younger boy would speak of his mother.

Issei blinked. "Of course! She's the best marine there is!"

"Hooh that is quite the bold claim." Hina commented. "Do you know if she comes to Marineford often? I might know her if she does."

Issei's brows furrowed in concentration. "I don't know, Mom never said anything about passing by here. She always told me that her job takes her to really dangerous places."

"That's really vague. More than half of the Grand Line fits the bill." Rosinante commented

"Be as it may," Smoker once more interrupted. "If you're really set on that, be sure not to slack off or won't catch up with your mother, much less your grandfather. You'll become the black sheep of the family if you end up a mediocre marine."

Rosinante cringed at the harsh words while Hina sighed. Smoker could come off brusque like that sometimes, even when he means well.

Issei eyed the gruff man, as if searching for something. He then smiled, earning a raised brow from the man.

"You're actually a nice guy aren't you Smokey?" He offered his hand to Smoker. "Sorry for calling you grumpy."

Hina was surprised. For him to understand that Smoker was in his own way attempting to motivate the boy to give his all, Issei was quite observant for a nine years old boy.

"It's not like you were wrong though." Rosinante said, earning him a glare from the cigar lover

Ignoring the blond, Smoker glanced at the boy, who was still waiting with his outstretched hand. A glare from Hina was more enough to help him come to a decision; he reached for the smaller hand to shake it.

Only for the moment Issei's hand were to touch Smoker's, the marine's hand dissolved in a cloud of smoke. Issei stared at the unexpected development shocked and intrigued, he quickly withdrawn his hand and immediately, the smoke began to shape up in the form of the missing limb.

"Sorry about that, my control over my ability isn't as perfect as I would like it to be." Smoker apologized, hoping to not have scared the kid

Issei's dumbfounded expression changed to a smile as his eyes sparkled. "That's so awesome! Can you do other stuff, like shoot ice?"

"You mean like Kuzan-san?" Issei nodded. "No, just like the ability to change into smoke is exclusively mine, creating ice is something only he's capable of doing."

"Eeh, are you serious? That sucks." Issei said, a bit miffed at the prospect of not being able of do the same thing

"Have you never heard of the Devil Fruits?" Hina asked, amused by the boy's reactions

"Dad did tell me once about them, but only that they're considered treasures and are spread out throughout the Grand Line."

Hina nodded. "That is not wrong; however there is more to it, as you can see, by eating a Devil Fruit, you are awarded with a unique power. The biggest drawback of eating one of these fruits is that you won't be able to swim anymore. You'll become a hammer, as the sea sucks the energy of fruit users."

"No swimming for life?! That's a bummer. But," Issei once more pumped his fist. "If it is for one of these kickass powers, then I think I wouldn't really mind!"

"Now, don't go thinking like that." Hina reprimanded. "While is true that some fruits hold incredible powers such as Smoker-kun here, there are also some with useless or less than favorable abilities. And the only way of knowing what power a fruit has is by eating it, so if you get a poor ability there's nothing you can do about it."

"So, you have to be lucky then?"Issei wondered

"That's right, just like I was." Rosinante spoke up with a grin, getting two disbelieving looks and a curious one

"You have an awesome power like Smokey? Can I see it?" Issei eagerly asked

Rosinante looked at Smoker for an answer. They all had a meeting to attend were all the lower raking commissioned officers would be updated on pirate activity on the Grand Line, be warned of potentially dangerous rookies and so on.

Smoker started rummaging one his pockets and picked up a small clock. "As long as it's nothing too protracted."

""Alright"" Both Issei and Rosinante cheered

"Then let's move to another place so I can show it to you guys." Rosinante said

As the blond and Smoker started walking, Hina began to lower Issei.

"You're going to put me on the ground?" Issei absently thought out loud

"That's the idea." A small smile played in her lips. "Why? Did you like me so much that you want to remain in my arms?"

Issei became beet red at the teasing as his feet touched the floor. "W-what?!"

"Hina moved." She looked away while dramatically putting a hand over her chest

"N-no it's nothing like that! I was j-just curious!" The boy tried to defend himself

Hina giggled at the boy before grabbing one of his hands. "If you say so. Come on, we don't want to be left behind do we?"

Issei resigned himself to just stay quiet, the blush remaining in his cheeks as he stared the floor and let himself be taken by the pink haired lady.

 **\\\**

"Okay, I'm ready now." Rosinante declared

As the other two marines and Issei waited at the training grounds, Rosinante had made his way to the armory. He came back moments later with a rifle strapped on his back.

"Well, get on with it." Smoker demanded

Three sets of eyes were glued to the blond, all of them watching with varying degrees of curiosity on what would be shown to them. Smoker stood with his arms folded and with one of his fingers repeatedly tapping his arm; Hina played with her new cigarette in her fingers, not having lit it yet and Issei kept rocking his arms up and down, his elbows fixed at his sides.

"Alright alright, no need to get impatient. So far, this is what I came up with." He touched his chest with one hand.

"Calm." He commanded

Issei's eyes kept darting everywhere, from Rosinante himself to his surroundings, trying to find anything that had changed. After a while, having found nothing, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Logia and Zoan are off the board." Hina commented

"Logia? Zoan?" Issei parroted

"Those are the names of two of the Devil Fruit types." Smoker explained. "Logias are the ones that allow the user to use an element or force of nature and change their body to that element, like mine."

Smoker illustrated by changing his whole arm to a cloud of smoke. "Zoan on the other hand allows the user to transform his body into another species, most commonly an animal."

"But if he's not one of those two, then what is his fruit?" Issei asked

"Paramecia. They are the most common of the three and the most overarching type of the three. Basically, if the user doesn't demonstrate anything that would fit in the two previous descriptions, he's Paramecia. We'll have to wait for him to do what he has in mind to find out what his ability is."

As if on cue, Rosinante began to run around in circles while aiming at the three the biggest goofy smile he was able to make. The small audience was taken by surprise, to the point that the blonds' ridiculous expression was ignored, that despite Rosinante's actions, there was no sound of his footsteps at all.

He continued running and so did the absolute silence. After a while he stopped near a training dummy and grabbed the rifle on his back. He aimed and began firing at it. The two marines and Issei's surprise grew when they didn't hear the sound of the gun firing each round.

"His ability makes his actions soundless, a soundless man." Smoker summarized

"Smoker-kun, did you notice as well?" Hina questioned

Said man nodded. "The bullets that hit the dummy didn't make any sound as well. It seems that his ability also affects noises not directly caused by that idiot."

Hina held her cigarette close to her lips and proceeded to light it.

"Hina shocked. Only he would be able to get such a peculiar ability out of a Devil Fruit." She said after taking a drag

"So, what do you guys think of my Devil Fruit?" Rosinante asked as he walked in the direction of the small group

"Weird ability for a weird guy." Smoker said

"It's interesting." Hina admitted

Rosinante smiled at the "praise" and turned to Issei to hear his thoughts, only to recoil away. Issei was giving the blond a look of utter disappointment, making Rosinante want to lie down and cry out of regret of his life choices.

"W-what's wrong Issei?"

"… Your ability is so lame." The boy said

Rosinante staggered, feeling as if an arrow had pierced his chest. "W-what did you say?" He asked, hoping to have had misheard.

"Lame." Apparently he hadn't. "It's not flashy at all, and what's it good for? Smokey's fruit is way cooler than yours."

"Ugh!" Rosinante fell to his knees in mock despair, his confidence in his fruit's power shattered

Too many insults at once, he could only take so much. Kids can be quite cruel when they want.

"That's not the proper way of rating a Devil Fruit. A fruit's worth is measured by its user's imagination and capability of applying its ability efficiently." A new voice lectured

They turned in the direction of the voice and were shocked to see who it was.

""Zephyr-sensei!"" Smoker and Hina reacted first, saluting their mentor

"Admiral Zephyr!" Rosinante followed suit

The towering man waved off the formal greeting as he smiled amusedly, having had seen the disparity of the reaction of the fruit's ability between two of his apprentices and Sengoku's grandson. Two were seeing things from a point of view of how beneficial the fruit's ability could be on the field while the other was the point of view from a child; if it wasn't flashy then it was no good.

"Zephyr-san!" At last, Issei greeted the purple haired man as well, running towards him

While Rosinante had an idea of the relationship between the two, the other two low ranking marines didn't have this knowledge, hence the reason why their eyes were now the size of saucers at the casual greeting Issei gave to one of the most influential persons in the Navy. Their surprise only grew when the Admiral responded in kind.

"Oh, Issei. Good to see you, how have you been?" He asked while kneeling to ruffle the boy's hair

"I've been well." His tone dripping with barely contained excitement. "I've been looking for you Zephyr-san!"

"Have you now?"

"Un! There's something that I want to ask." He stared at the man's eyes. "I want to you to train me!"

Hina coughed due to the smoke from her cigarette having gone the wrong way; Smoker cigar fell from his mouth but was later caught by his hand and Rosinante only smiled. Zephyr response was a throaty laugh.

"You didn't even waste a second huh?" He grinned. "You also didn't try to butter me up to accept it your request. However, first things first."

Zephyr turned to the other three marines. "You should leave to your meeting, it will be commencing shortly. I'll deal with the kid here."

The three caught on the subtle dismissal that Zephyr was giving them, since there was still a considerable time until the meeting, but obeyed nonetheless.

"Then, I'm off." Smoker said

"Bye bye Issei-kun." Hina winked at the boy

"Until later Ise." Rosinante spoke as he left with the others

Issei bid them goodbye and then looked back at Zephyr, staring at him expectantly. When the Admiral saw the boy's gaze, he chuckled at how similar he looked like Sengoku when the two of them, together with Garp and Tsuru had joined the Navy. Despite not showing as openly as his grandson, Sengoku was just as determined and eager to grow as a marine.

"You know, yesterday your grandfather met with me to talk about you, that you wanted to become a strong marine." Zephyr started. "But more importantly, he talked about you wanting to train under me."

A pit formed in Issei's stomach. Had his grandfather asked his colleague to not train him?

Seeing the worried expression in the boy's face, Zephyr continued. "He came to assure me that you're more than worth to take under my tutelage and if that's what you truly want then he will allow it."

And just like that gone were Issei's fears, replaced by happiness and a big smile. "Gramps did that?"

Zephyr nodded. "He also gave me permission to not go easy on you, to give you the harshest training as possible. Do you still want to continue?"

Issei gulped at such ominous words, but nodded in agreement anyway. He couldn't back down now at the starting line.

Zephyr gave the boy a grin. "We'll see if by the end of the month if that's how you still feel about it."

Issei silently prayed.

 **\\\**

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Coming." Said Sengoku

It was nighttime, Rosinante and Sengoku had already returned home. Said Admiral was about to start to prepare dinner and Issei still hadn't arrived. Not that he was worried; after all he was sure that the boy was with Zephyr, since the purple haired man had said that he would accompany the kid on the way back.

As he opened the door, he saw a completely exhausted Issei dozing off in his old friend's arms. The boy was drenched with sweat, his breathing rough.

"Well, I can't say you didn't do as I asked." Sengoku muttered

Zephyr smiled. "I wasn't planning on him ending this much spent up. We started rather light during the last hours of the morning, with the aim of gradually increasing his stamina and endurance with his new exercise routine. But after lunch he really pushed himself and is my fault for not stopping him."

Sengoku shook his head. "If anyone's at fault here is Issei. He's just like his father; once he starts something he determined himself to do, he'll do it until he can't take it anymore and you can't help but get caught up in his pace."

"I see."

Zephyr passed the boy to his grandfather. "Have a goodnight. He's probably going to miss dinner today; I'm betting that he'll only wake up in the morning."

After watching the purple haired man walk away to go to his house, Sengoku turned back and closed the door. As he was walking up the stairs, Issei began to stir in his arms and as he glanced down, he saw a content smile in the kid's face.

Sengoku cracked a soft smile. "It's all up to you now."

* * *

Two weeks had passed. By now, the news that not only Sengoku had a grandson and that said boy was living with the Admiral, but also that Zephyr had taken the kid under his wing during his available time was widely known in Marineford.

It was this train of thought that occupied the mind of Vice Admiral Garp as he sat in his office, thinking to himself that the boy had everything in his favor to become the nightmare of all pirates in the future. He was sitting in the comfortable chair he had bought while he enjoyed a cup of green tea and some rice crackers.

His musing came to an abrupt end when one of his subordinates barged in, tripping in the process and falling to the floor as he frantically called for Garp.

"Vice Admiral Garp sir! We just received intel of grave importance!" He exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath

Garp blinked. "Calm down son, breath or we won't get anywhere. Here, take a cracker, they're pretty good since it's a new batch."

The Vice Admiral's subordinates were used to the nonchalant attitude their superior had. This time however, there was no room for patience to deal with his antics.

"Sir, please, this matter requires your full attention! Our men found something terrible that has happened in East Blue!"

That made Garp countenance turn serious. East Blue was known for being the most peaceful of the four seas, since it was hailed the weakest of them.

"What happened?" Garp asked

The marine shakily handed him a small piece of paper. Garp eyes carefully passed by every line in the report, taking care not to miss anything.

"What?!" Garp exclaimed, eyes wide as beads of sweat began to trail down his temple

His stony eyes landed on his subordinate. "How sure are you of this information?"

"We're one hundred percent sure sir! We checked it multiple times!"

"Then tell the ones who found out to keep it quiet! I don't want this spreading like wildfire, understand?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Garp waved the marine off

Alone in his office now, the Vice Admiral massaged his forehead, his little snack now forgotten along with his appetite, the magnitude of what was written took away any satisfaction that Garp would get out it. He exhaled loudly before once more reading the report, to make sure he wasn't imagining things, this time out loud.

"A village situated on a small island in East Blue was ransacked by a pirate crew. Amongst the bodies of the many victims that were made during the raid, two were identified as outsiders from the village. Those two were the wife and son of Admiral Black Arm Zephyr."

* * *

 **A/N: And that closes chapter 2! I hope it was as enjoyable as the first one. I want to thank everyone that reviewed the first chapter and I'm glad to see that the premise looks promising to some, I'll try my best so that the story lives up to its potential. And of course, many thanks as well to those that fav/follo. If possible, consider leaving a review so that I can have an idea of your thoughts on the story. Next chapter should be coming up in the later half of March so I hope to see you guys on the next one and have a good day!**

 **This chapter was betaed by The Composcreator.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or High School DxD**

* * *

"Issei, dinner's ready." Sengoku called from downstairs

Issei groaned as he got up from his bed. "Coming!"

He felt every muscle in his legs screaming at him at each step he took. While he wasn't out of shape, he certainly wasn't used to something as extensive and intense as the training regime that Zephyr gave him. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary; his regime had pushups, squats, crunches, laps around the training grounds and so on. What really stood out was the exaggerated amount the Admiral had defined for him. The nine years old boy was doing roughly the same quantity of repetitions as a grown adult would do.

Issei being even able to find the strength to face the flight of stairs was a testament to his small body slowly getting used to his conditioning.

Standing before the last couples of steps, Issei saw Rosinante at the bottom of the staircase looking up at Issei, calmly watching the younger boy came down at his own, slow pace as he leaned on the closest wall.

"I see you've managed to hold your own today." The blond commented

Issei happily nodded. "I'm getting stronger!" He chirped

When he started his training, the boy's exhaustion was strong enough for him to sleep through the remaining hours of the day, only waking up when the sun rose once more. When the strain of the training lessened, Issei didn't passed out, but did needed someone to be near him in case his legs gave in.

"It seems you really are. (sigh) I still think you should ask Zephyr-san to lessen your absurd regime, but it will fall to deaf ears." He walked off his backrest. "Are sure you're okay? You still have to reach the dining room after you done there."

Issei puffed his cheeks. "I said I'm fine, I can do this! See, my legs aren't even trembling anymore!"

Rosinante chuckled before heading to where diner awaited them. "Alright then, suit yourself. I just don't want to see you fall all over the place."

Issei gave him a flat expression. "No, I don't think you of all people can say-"

*BAM*

Issei blinked his eyes at the site of Rosinante's legs standing up in the air as the blond remained with his back against the floor, his face set in a comical surprised expression.

"(pff) Idiot." Issei said as he tried to hold in his laughter

As exemplified by what had just occurred, Rosinante was clumsy. This important characteristic of the blond had not appeared the first couple of days the two spent time together, but after weeks of living in the same house, it became blatantly clear to Issei, as the teenager would constantly fall without any apparent reason.

"Ow, my head, what did I step in- Hey! What are you laughing at?! This isn't funny!" Rosinante pouted as he rubbed the back of his head

He got on his feet grumbling, ignoring the snickering Issei. The blond walked in the direction of the adjacent room, only to fall again, this time face-first with the floor.

Witnessing the scene worthy of a comedy sketch, Issei wasn't able to hold it in; his laugh echoed throughout the house.

"Oi! Cut it out!" Cried Rosinante

In the dining room, Sengoku was already seated, staring at the plate filled with food in front of him as he waited for the two boys to arrive. Said food was starting to grow cold and if he waited much longer, the plate would lose all its warmth as the steam that carried the scent of the freshly cooked rice was almost nonexistent by now. As he heard the joyous laughter and indignant cries that gave life to his otherwise monotonous household, the Admiral couldn't find in him to the will to give them a tongue lashing. However, a small smile did came to him rather easily.

 **\\\**

"What's wrong Issei?" Sengoku suddenly asked

When Rosinante had finally stopped falling, the two boys entered the dining room and joined the Admiral at the table. They spent most of the meal in silence, since no topic came to mind to any of the three.

"Eh?" Issei smartly said, caught off guard by the question

"You're playing with your food." His grandfather stated

Seeing the boy tilt his head, Sengoku elaborated. "You've always eaten your meal at a quick pace, even more now that you go through your training; you're basically a vacuum when it comes to your food. Your plate still has more than half of its original quantity, so, what's on your mind?"

Rosinante even stopped eating his food after the explanation, shooting Issei a concerned look. Said boy gaped at how easily his grandfather read him. Was he really such an open book?

"Ah, no, it's not there's something wrong. I was just wondering about something."

"Just wondering huh? It must be serious." Rosinante commented

Issei shrugged. "I don't know it might be just me."

"What were you thinking of?" Sengoku asked

"About Zephyr-sensei."

At that Rosinante raised his brows while Sengoku's expression remained neutral.

"Did something happen?" The blond asked, his tone now matching his concerned look

"No no, it's just that this last few days Zephyr-sensei was able to spend with me he seems to be distracted." Issei's brows furrowed as he tried to explain his thoughts. "At first, he was always very attentive but lately he constantly has this kind of faraway look on him and sometimes when I call him it takes more than one try for him to notice it."

"Really? Maybe something _did_ happened." Rosinante guessed

Issei nodded. "I thought that as well. Mayb-"

"You would do well to remember his station." Sengoku cut them off. "Zephyr is a man that has a lot of responsibilities so he's bound to have a busy mind from time to time. Him managing to find the time to train you and many other marines is a miracle in itself. Give it sometime and I'm sure things will return to what you're used to."

Sengoku spoke resolutely, convincing the two boys present in a blink of an eye; Rosinante seemed satisfied with the Admiral's reasoning and Issei looked untroubled, finally focusing solely on his food.

Despite that, the one who said such things with absolute conviction inwardly harbored many doubts over his purple haired friend.

"Rosinante," Issei called after a while. "There's one thing that I wanted to know but had forgotten to ask you."

"Oh? What is it?" The blond inquired as he munched a mouthful of his diner

"Why's Tsuru-chan so cold towards you?"

Rosinante's eye widen as he choked on his food, causing him to repeatedly hit his chest as he had a coughing fit. After managing to unstuck the food, he gave Issei a forced smile.

"N-now now, I'm sure she was just in a bad mood at that time in the refectory." He said

"No, I'm pretty sure her mood was fine when she was talking to me. She only seemed indifferent with you." Issei replied in a heartbeat, not picking up on the blonds' hesitancy

Rosinante's brow twitched. "I-is that so? I think it must have been something small, because I can't remember at all."

Suddenly the blond shivered; the feeling of being carefully watched making his instincts go haywire. He hesitantly turned to the third person at the table and felt another shiver when his gaze unintentionally met with Sengoku's.

Sengoku had folded his muscular arms over his chest while he scrutinized the blond with half lid eyes. His expression showed his disapproval, if it was by what Rosinante had done or if the fact that Issei was asking about the matter, the teenager had no idea.

"Issei," The boy stiffened at the steely tone. "Some time ago, when Rosinante was a bit younger, he had found a hobby, so to say, but sadly not a commendable one. While he found it quite endearing, the same could not be said by the many complaints and outrage cries that could be hear whenever he indulged his hobby. And all of those were made by the female portion of the marines."

Issei glanced at Rosinante, who was shrinking at each word spoken in his chair. At this rate, he will have disappeared by the time Sengoku's done talking.

"So when Tsuru, who has a unity composed of only female officers under her, caught wind of Rosinante's less then savory activities, she was more than willing to spend her time disciplining him. The thing is," Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even after that, our blond here didn't gave up on his hobby, in fact, for a while it seemed only to worsen. So Tsuru's cold attitude towards Rosinante isn't uncaused."

The teenager laughed awkwardly, earning an annoyed look from the Admiral. By now, Issei wasn't sure anymore if he wanted to know what exactly the blond did, but in the end his curiosity got the better of him.

"What did you use to do?" The boy asked

Rosinante glanced at Sengoku, wondering if he should answer. The bespectacled man simply shrugged his shoulder; at this point there was no reason to refuse to say it.

"I uh," The teenager said, poking one index finger at the other. "Peep at women."

"Don't you mean you used to peep? Or are there new ways of embarrassing yourself that you would like to try out?" Sengoku questioned

"Geh! Y-yes! It was just a slip of tongue!" Rosinante agreed

Sengoku huffed. "Of course it was. Just like past times."

Issei stared at Rosinante like he had grown a second head. "Why would you do that?"

Rosinante gasped at Issei, as if the boy had confessed of being guilty of a crime. He was about to say something when the other marine present cut him off.

"Don't even think about it." Sengoku warned

Rosinante's mouth clamped shut, wisely dropping the matter, for the moment at least. Seeing that no one would dignify him with an answer, Issei shrugged his shoulders and focused back to his food.

* * *

The words his grandfather had said at dinner that night really did settled down Issei's worries, but only momentarily unfortunately. At each day the boy passed with the purple haired man, it only served to strengthen his concerns. At each session, Zephyr seemed to steadily grow more distant and lost in thought, some days barely saying more than a handful of words. He was worried that something had really happened to the usually friendly Admiral but never said a word, fearing that in doing so he would be sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

"No! I can't think like that!" Issei said to himself as he shook his head frantically. "Remember Gramps words!"

He kept repeating this last sentence over and over like a mantra as he made his way to where he would be training for the day with Zephyr, one of the many patios available. As he reached his destination, he could hear the chattering that was taking place there. In the patio there were already a lot of marines' cadets and low ranking ones, although in a significant smaller quantity than most groups that had such marines, all waiting for Zephyr.

As Issei walked through the open area, no one batted an eye at the small boy with the Navy jacket, by now they were used to sometimes seeing him. Since Zephyr's timetable was a busy one, sometimes Issei sessions would be only him and the Admiral, others would be like today.

Suddenly, Issei felt two arms snake through his back to his chest, being then lifted from the ground. He tried looking back and all that he saw was long pink hair.

"Good morning Isse-kun." Came Hina's soft voice

Issei squirmed under the young woman's grip and turned to face her. The morning didn't seem to faze Hina one bit, as she looked just as stunning as the first time the boy had laid eyes on her, her silky hair didn't had one spot that was disheveled. He aimed a bright smile at her.

"Morning Hina-chan!" He cheerfully greeted, he then glanced at his side. "Morning to you too Smokey!"

Said man only waved at Issei before lighting up a cigar, since Smoker had the same gruff expression as usual, Issei had no idea if mornings affected the young man's humor.

Around the three of them, some watched curiously Hina and Issei's interaction; it always happened when the two met one another but nevertheless it was interesting to see the pink haired beauty change in attitude when it came to the small boy. Others stared with jealousy at how close the boy seemed to be with Hina, but they were quickly dealt with by Smoker's glare.

"So today you're with us again?" Hina asked

"Yep! Yesterday it was resting day. So here I am today!" The boy exclaimed

Hina smiled. "I see. Then let us do our best."

"Un!" Issei agreed with a nod. "Did you happen to see Zephyr-sensei along the way?"

"No I didn't." Hina said. "But I'm sure that he'll be here soon enough."

As minutes turned to hours and there still was no sign from the towering Admiral, most of the present started training by themselves, doing what they had been already taught. It wasn't blatant, but by practice alone it was possible to see that some had more talent or expertise than others, be it in swordplay, marksmanship or any other field.

Hina and Smoker were prime examples of being a cut above the rest. They were training their hand to hand combat by mock fighting each other, the pace and skill displayed leaving most present eating dust. This training went double for Smoker since it allowed him to test just how skillful he was with his Devil Fruit.

Issei, on the other hand, was one of the few that weren't doing anything. Currently, the boy was seated on the ground, watching absentmindedly Hina and Smoker's fight from a safe distance as his mind raced through various thoughts.

"Where are you Zephyr-sensei?"

 **\\\**

 **(Somewhere else in Marineford HQ)**

"I don't think I heard you correctly Zephyr." Garp said, his widened eyes boring a hole in the purple haired man

"Garp…" Sengoku called, intending to appease the man

"Be quiet!" Garp exclaimed, surprisingly glaring at the Admiral

Meanwhile, Zephyr stood still, tiredness overcoming his countenance as if he had aged greatly in a short time.

"I wish to leave the Navy." He said in a beaten tone, staring at the fourth person present in the room

The Vice Admiral was ready to shout at his long time friend but was prevented from doing so.

"Enough Garp, shouting won't get us anywhere here." A baritone voice said

Garp and Sengoku turned to the man that sat behind the only desk in the room. All the attention was now focused on the remaining person.

"Kong-san." Sengoku said

Before the three stood the only man above them in the Navy, Fleet Admiral Kong. Unlike the three, Kong didn't wore a suit; simply because there was no suit capable of withstanding the man's extremely muscular and broad-chested physique, opting to wear a sleeveless blue shirt under his marine coat. Like Sengoku, he had a peculiar hair; his being white and arranged in an array of spikes. He was commander of the Navy in its entirety.

Kong had remained quietly observing the moment three of the most notorious figures of the Navy entered his office. He could without a doubt say that he had considered such a thing to happen, given the tragedy that had befallen Zephyr and wanted nothing more than to grant the aged warrior his wish. However, he also had to take into account the needs of the Navy, as was his duty as Fleet Admiral.

"Zephyr, are you certain of that course of action?" Kong asked

Even if the answer was obvious, he had to start somewhere.

Zephyr still stared at Kong, unblinking. "Do you even need to ask?" He gave a pained chuckle

Kong countenance remained stony, even if he did feel for his subordinate. "Yes I do. After all, it is not uncommon for those who are grieving to make hasty decisions. And to me, you are a fine example of a person lost in his grieve."

Sengoku and Garp glanced at each other, trying to guess what their commander was aiming for.

Zephyr didn't showed reaction to Kong's accusation. "We all here know that you can't stop me from retiring. You may show your displeasure or disapproval of it but that's as far as you can go."

Sengoku's jaw tensed while Garp held his breath. At the face of the Admiral's words, Kong narrowed his eyes. The impasse caused the tension in the room to grow thick to the point that you could cut it with a knife, as the two powerful men refuse to give in.

The Fleet Admiral folded his canon-like arms over his chest, his gaze still locked with Zephyr's. Finally, the commander sighed.

"Then how about we reached a compromise?"

Garp and Sengoku arched their brows. Hearing no objection from the towering Admiral, Kong continued.

"Like I said, grieve tends to cloud a person's judgment. So before you decide anything, wait a bit longer, think things through, at least until our finest soldiers are here together. Then, we'll reconvene and if in the end your decision is still the same, I'll see you off in a battleship personally."

"Understand that I can't simply let you go that easily because you're one of the main powers of our organization and the number of pirates through the days only grows. Soon, the most prominent pirate crews will settle down in the New World, changing the already fragile balance of power in our world. For now, the Navy has the upper hand in this scale but if you were to leave, our superiority will take a severe toll." He finished, hoping to appeal to Zephyr's sense of duty

The sound of the minute hand of the clock in the wall was audible for everyone in face of the silence that settled as they waited for Zephyr's answer.

"Fine." He said after a weary sigh. "I'll wait until then."

Kong nodded gratefully, relieved that he at the very least avoided for now the problem. Zephyr then turned to Sengoku, finally showing a different expression, one of regret.

"About Issei, I-"

He stopped when Sengoku raised a hand. "Don't worry about that for now. You have more pressing matters; I'll deal with this one." He assured

Zephyr thanked before getting out of the office.

"Kong-san," Sengoku called. "You said that the meeting will only take place when our main powers are all here, does that mean…" He trailed off, but the other two understood what he meant

Garp gulped loudly while Kong rubbed the back of his neck. Sengoku felt apprehensive, even knowing what the answer would be.

"Yes, I'll be sending a message to one of our bases in the New World, the G1. Soon enough we'll have the three Admirals together in one place." Kong declared

Garp coughed as Sengoku massaged his forehead, feeling the upcoming migraine.

"I see." Said Sengoku, he then turned to Garp. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Eh?"

* * *

As another day started, Issei found himself despondently following his grandfather as they made their way like every other morning through the streets of Marineford Town. As he followed Sengoku, the boy's mind wandered back to yesterday's event of Zephyr not showing up. The whole thing had pummeled down Issei's spirits to the point he had forgotten to think of something to do other than laze around in Sengoku's office.

"Issei there's something I want you to do." Sengoku said as they approached the headquarters

The boy looked up at his grandfather. "What is it Gramps?"

"Do you remember the way to the patio you went with Zephyr on your second day here?"

Issei raised a brow. "… I do, why do you ask?"

Stopped his stride and faced the boy. "I want you to go there today."

The boy furrowed his brows, confused. "I don't think Zephyr-sensei will be there today. If he wasn't there yesterday, on what is supposed to be a resting day he wouldn't show up."

The Admiral nodded. "You're right; you're not going there to meet with Zephyr. Someone else will be there with you."

"Who?" Issei asked curiously

"You'll see. Just," Sengoku sighed. "Be patient okay? Very patient at that."

Issei didn't understand the reason for any of this, but agreed nonetheless. They parted ways as soon as they entered the base.

The boy arrived at his destination without any problems and was met with an empty patio. Not having known what to expect, Issei wasn't really disappointed but more curious as to who was the person that should be there with him. Sighing, he took a seat at the nearest bench, trying to think of anything that could occupy him as he waited. After a while, Issei began to doze off as the waiting mixed with boredom started to affect him.

"Ara, am I late? I was sure that I had a good ten minutes left." Drawled out a voice

Issei snapped his head in its direction, his eyes widening a second later as he saw the person who had arrived. Issei's eyes landed on the tall and lean form of Vice Admiral Kuzan, as the man scratched his head over his dark blue bandana. He took of his round black glasses, showing his sleepy eyes and rubbed them.

Kuzan yawned. "My bad for being late, I suppose."

Not getting any answers, the Vice Admiral eyed the boy. Issei stared at the man, agape and with his eyes sparkling.

"Y-you're that iceman!" The boy exclaimed excitedly

Kuzan tilted his head, slightly amused by Issei's reaction. "Iceman? Do you mean my Devil Fruit ability?"

Issei frantically nodded, smiling widely at the man.

Kuzan closed his eyes while resting a hand in his chin. "Hmm, that's strange. I don't remember an instance where I used my powers and you were present. That's frustrating."

Despite his choice of words, the Vice Admiral's tone and posture gave the impression that he really couldn't care less if he remembered or not.

"I saw you using it once when you fought with that shiny guy and the lava one." Issei explained

"Shiny… hmm, must be Borsalino, and lava is Sakazuki… ah, that was quite a while." He remembered, and then shrugged. "Oh well, that works for me, saves me time from presenting myself thoroughly. Name's Kuzan."

"So Kuzan-san, what are we going to do here?" Issei asked, hoping that his guess was right

"I'm here to train you." The boy jumped of joy. "Garp-san came to me yesterday asking me a favor. After everything he did for me there was no way I would refuse him of something if it is within my power."

"Garp-san asked you to train me?" Issei asked

Kuzan nodded. "Apparently your grandfather asked him to do so." He looked in Issei's eyes. "For Sengoku to agree to be in someone's debt so easily, he must really care for you."

Issei cheeks reddened a bit out of embarrassment and happiness and gave a shy nod. "Gramps is awesome, even if a bit strict."

"I'm sure he is." Kuzan lazily agreed

The Vice Admiral then, much to Issei's surprise, laid on the floor while resting the side of his head in one of his hands.

"Uh what are you doing Kuzan-san?"

"Zephyr-sensei was making you increase your endurance and all that stuff, wasn't he?" the man ignored Issei's question

"Yeah that's right."

Kuzan sighed. "Haaa, that's too bothersome. We won't be doing that."

Issei was surprised by the sudden decision. "Eh? What will we do then?"

Kuzan drummed the fingers of his free hand on the ground, pondering on the subject. "What to do, what to do."

The Vice Admiral's eyes then slowly opened after a moment. "I got it. We'll train your reflexes."

"Cool! How will we do it?"

"Like this." He raised his free hand and slowly out of thin air a small ice ball in the same size of a tennis ball appeared. "Try to dodge it."

Issei's amazement at Kuzan's display of his ability shattered the moment the man's last words sunk in. The ball was hurled at the boy's direction. Issei jumped to the side just in time, the ball grazed his hair and smashed itself on the ground.

Issei stared back and forth the spot the ball hit and the lazy Vice Admiral. "Warn me next time!"

"I did warn you." Kuzan remarked. "You seem to have some decent instincts on you, so I'll make things a bit harder."

Issei's eyes grew wide when twenty ice balls appeared. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"Now don't be like that. These balls at worst can only bruise you lightly so don't worry too much."

Issei sweat dropped at Kuzan's casual way of stating things. How could he not worry after knowing that and seeing the number of projectiles aimed at him.

"Besides, we're only starting. I'll increase the number at each try."

Thinking back to the first wave and looking at the one in front of him, Issei gulped. "A-at what number do you plan on reaching?"

Kuzan shrugged. "I don't know; one hundred, two hundred maybe."

Issei's face lost all color at that information. He could see a small tug in the corner of Kuzan's lips.

"Give it your best." And then the balls rushed to him

"YAAAAH!" Issei screamed as he desperately ran

* * *

 **(The next day, in the New World)**

A Navy battleship could be found, standing still and tall, facing the violent waves of the stormy sea it was in head on. The heavy rain drenched the ship and its sailors, making the general mood worse than it already was. Almost everyone present wanted nothing more than to sail for shelter, but duty came first. Every marine officer stood ready, watching as a smaller boat rowed towards their enemy.

"Hey, is this really okay?" One of the officers muttered

"What do you mean?" Another asked

"This," The first one waved his hands. "The rest simply observing while only one of us goes out there. I mean there are at least two pirate crews numbering in the dozens."

The second one looked back as the small boat reached the shore of the small island in front of them. "It really doesn't feel right."

"What are you two yapping about?" A third voice cut through the noise of the storm

The two other marines flinched and hastily turned around. "Vice Admiral Buccaneer!"

Buccaneer gave a wild smile. "After the entire ruckus these pirates caused, they decided to hole themselves up in an old and abandoned fortress, intending to withstand any and all attacks from the Navy. Since we were the closest Navy muscle to the island, we ended up as called as backup." He summarized the current situation

"Shame they have such a shitty timing."

The other two officers glanced at one another. "What do you mean sir?"

"What I mean is that we have more important things to do and that these pirates last stand is holding us back."

"But even then sir shouldn't we-" The first one tried to speak up

"I understand what you mean kid. But the foul mood you're in right now," Buccaneer chuckled. "It ain't got nothing on that person's mood. You two are new here aren't you?"

The two nodded at that, earning a chuckle out of the Vice Admiral.

"Believe me; we would only be in the way." His smile then turned to a proud one. "Trust in our leader."

 **\\\**

 **(The same time, back at Marineford)**

Issei stepped out of the staircase while stretching himself, wincing a little at the bruises he had earned in his training with the lazy Vice Admiral. At the very least, Kuzan had spoken the truth; his bruises were only light ones so they should be healed in no time.

The boy halted when he didn't hear any noises inside the house and worse, there wasn't any indication of the scent of breakfast. Issei glanced up at the clock, thinking that perhaps he had woken up too early but as he thought, it was the same time as every other day when he came downstairs.

"Rosinante? Gramps?" Issei called

"I'm here!" Answered Sengoku's voice, coming from the door that lead to their medium sized courtyard

Covering his eyes from the sun's bright light as he passed through the door, Issei found the odd site of his grandfather sitting with his legs folded, dressed casually as he usually did when at home, eating happily his breakfast and to complete it, the goat was sleeping soundly at his side.

"Morning." Sengoku greeted

Issei had a dumbstruck expression. "… Morning. Uh, Gramps shouldn't you be wearing your tie and everything else?"

Sengoku ate another mouthful of his eggs. "Not today. Today, you and I will do something different."

"You are going to show me if the training you've done so far is showing results. So I left the suit hanging in the closet for today."

Issei ran up to his grandfather. "Really?! Haha, you'll see Gramps, I'm like, super faster now an-"

"Calm down. You don't need to tell me, you just have to show me. Don't waste the little energy you have in the morning." Sengoku advised

As if on cue, Issei's stomach started to rumble, demanding its fuel.

"You're going to need it, after all." Sengoku added

"Eh?"

The Admiral turned the rest of his bowl of food in mouth, eating all in one go. He got off the ground after picking up another bowl that was resting at his side. As soon as Issei felt the aroma rolling off of it, his stomach's protest doubled in effort.

"This here is your breakfast. It still hot as it was recently prepared."He stopped for a second. "However, you'll only eat if you managed to take it off my hand."

"Whaat?!" Issei exclaimed horrified.

"You heard me. You'll have to do your best to get your food while I'll try to dodge your advances."

Issei's jaw hit the floor at that. There's no way he'll get this food if Sengoku's serious.

"What, are you giving up already? It's a long way until lunch time you know."

To Issei's surprise, his grandfather smirked. Smirked! He can barely remember the last time he heard him laugh!

"Okay then, more for me." Sengoku shrugged, preparing to eat the bowl's content

"NO!" Issei lunged forward

Sengoku swiftly moved the bowl out of the boy's clutches way, making grasp only air before he hit the floor.

"Ah one last thing, if in one hour you don't get the bowl; then your first meal of the day will be lunch. Starting now."

Issei felt despair settling inside him.

 **\\\**

 **(New World)**

"Huahaha, what did I told ya?!" Buccaneer guffawed. "Like a predator catching its scared prey!"

As the Vice Admiral boisterous voice ringed throughout the battleship's deck, the marine officers boarded the ship while escorting the now severely beaten and handcuffed pirates to the holding cells on the lower levels.

On the horizon, where once stood the imposing fortress, overshadowed by the mountains behind it, now, there was barely any trace left of the fortress, only its smithereens. And the mountains, that before had a look resembling three humps, now had under the middle hump, a gaping round hole, which gave a clear view of what was beyond it.

The two marines close to Buccaneer gulped at the site of the aftermath of the confrontation.

"How long did the whole thing last?" Buccaneer wondered out loud

"About five minutes, if you include the time of the failed negotiations." A new voice, much calmer in contrast to the one of the Vice Admiral

Buccaneer's laughter regained vigor at the news while the two other lower ranking officers saluted.

""Vice Admiral Miles!""

"At ease." Miles said before turning to Buccaneer. "We have the clear to go."

Buccaneer grinned widely at that before turning around and talking as loudly as possible. "Alright men! Everyone at your stations! Our next stop is Marineford, with the bonus of a detour to the lovely Impel Down to drop off the cargo that just boarded! Move your asses!"

A loud chorus of "Aye sir!" was the answer given before all those aboard the battleship moved to accomplish their tasks.

"Impel Down? I thought that that prison was only for big shot criminals and pirates." Commented one of the officers

The two Vice Admirals that were still close by caught on the small talk. Buccaneer merely grinned while Miles chuckled before deciding to indulge his subordinate's curiosity.

"Let's just say that this is quite the special occasion. The Admiral has more than one reason to want to reach our main headquarters."

* * *

 **A/N: And that wraps up chapter 3! Still not much in terms of action, but we'll get there eventually. For now, I would like to address some points written in some of the reviews:**

 **.** **Issei's jacket is the same as Coby, I always thought that his outfit was cool looking.**

 **.** **Regarding pairings, it will be either Issei with one woman or two by the end of the story. I don't intend to give him a big harem like most DxD fics.**

 **This chapter was done quicker than I expected, hence why it is being posted earlier than the date I had said in the last chapter's author's note. As always, many thanks for those that reviewed, always great to hear from you guys, and to those that fav/follo the story. I hope you guys liked this one as well and also hope to see you all on the next one. Have a great day.**

 **Chapter beta was done by The Composcreator.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or High School DxD**

* * *

Despite Kuzan's training method leaving some bruises that were certain to ache in the following morning, it wasn't as physically taxing as Zephyr's training was, surprisingly enough. So after spending two consecutive mornings training with the lazy Vice Admiral, by the third time the boy was already conformed to his new routine of being made into a moving target.

"Ugh, my shoulder." Issei groaned as he rubbed one of his newest marks. "Where are you taking me Rosinante?"

"Shhh!" The blond hissed. "Don't talk so loud and I've told you already, it's a surprise."

Issei frowned; he hadn't talked any louder than he usually did. "At least give me something! You dragged me away the moment my training was over without explaining anything and now we're in a place I've never been."

The situation alone was enough to spark the boy's curious nature, and the moment that he noticed that he had never passed through the set of corridors they were going by, meaning he had no clue where it would lead to; Issei couldn't help himself but ask.

Rosinante stopped and eyed the corridor warily, wanting to make sure that they were alone. "Fine, I'll give you something. What I can say is that this should help recover from your tiring morning."

The blond giggled lecherously afterwards but unfortunately, Issei saw the teenager's giggles as innocent as any other, so he didn't pry further. "Oh, okay then."

They walked in silence for a little longer until Rosinante turned to Issei, still looking alarmed. "We should be fairly close by now so there are a few things I must establish; soon I'm going to use my fruit's ability so stick close to me because its range is small since I'm not very good at it yet."

"Then we'll have to stay still so that we can apprecia- what's wrong?"

The blond cut his explanation halfway when he saw that he didn't had Issei's attention since the boy's gaze wasn't on him, but seemed to have settled on something ahead of him. Suddenly, a chill creeped up his spine, the back of his neck and head now felt unbelievably hot. He slowly and hesitantly turned his head to the side, looking at his back. When he finally saw what was behind him, beads of sweat began to drip from his temples.

"Please go ahead and finish your explanation, Hina curious." Said the irate pink haired marine

"So am I, especially since we're so close to the female officer's locker room." Added venomously another voice

The site that Issei was looking at rather than paying attention to Rosinante was of the two beauties that stood behind the blond, both wearing highly displeased expression as they glared daggers at the teenager.

Issei knew one of them fairly well, as almost every day he talked at least once with Hina. The other lady, however, he had no idea of who she was. She was easily as attractive as Hina, with long curly black hair framing her beautiful face. What caught Issei's attention was that she was using lipstick, adding to her refined features and making her the first female marine he happened to look at that had it on. Her slender yet fit build was hidden under a marine coat; said coat indicated that she outranked both Hina and Rosinante.

"C-commander Gion…" Rosinante muttered, taking a step back. "Y-you two shouldn't be here, my timing should've been perfect."

"We got out earlier because there were some rumors we wanted to check. Hina said

"You even tried to time it? You really are a creep." Gion looked disgusted. "I wonder how Tsuru will react when she hears of your latest attempt."

A grin formed in Hina's lips. "Oooh, I can't even imagine what she'll do to you. And to make it worst, you even tried to rope Issei-kun in."

Gion continued in derision. "Indeed, you trying to corrupt the young boy certainly won't give you any sympathy points with her."

As the ladies laughed at the prospect that now haunted the blond, Rosinante grew pale as he thought of the possibilities of what Tsuru would do to him when she returned to the base and caught him, leaving him almost tearing up.

"NOOOO!" The blond scream as he lost it and ran away at breakneck speed

"… He really can be fast when he wants to." Issei commented

If only he was fast like that in the morning. Fortunately for the boy, Sengoku would most of the days take upon himself to wake up the blond, since Issei always had a hard time because Rosinante sometimes used his Devil Fruit ability to isolate him from all exterior noises.

"The right motivation can do wonders Issei-kun." Hina said

Issei ran up to the pink haired lady. "Hina-chan!"

Hina kneeled and grabbed Issei's cheeks, pulling them a little.

"Hiinwa-chwan?" Issei asked, not really enjoying the pinching sensation

Hina giggled lightly. "Still as cute as the first day I saw you. How was your morning?"

She let go of the boy's, leaving a faint red mark on each of them. "It was good. I was with Kuzan-sensei."

"I see."Hina merely said. She was past feeling surprise at the acquaintances the boy had; by now she doubted Issei could surprise her like that.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan? That's quite the mentor you have." Gion said, including herself in the conversation

"You think so?" Issei asked

"Yes, in fact, it would be surprising for anyone else to have such a high profile as your mentor, but Hina has told me that Admiral Zephyr was also training you before, so I guess this much should be expected of you."

Issei's mood slightly dropped at the mention of the purple haired marine, he hadn't seen or heard of the man since the first time he didn't showed up and was worried for the Admiral.

"You two talk about me?" Issei felt a little embarrassed at the thought

Gion chuckled. "It's more like she talks incessantly and I try to take in as much as possible. There's one thing that she was absolutely right about you though." She stated as she closed in on Issei

Issei tilted his head curiously but before he could ask about it, Gion glomped the boy between her arms and considerable bosom, both flustering the boy and reminding him of a similar experience he had in a recent past.

"You should totally be the Navy's mascot!" The woman gushed

Hina nodded sagely, wholeheartedly agreeing on the matter. "What are you going to do now that the blond creep bailed out on you Issei-kun?"

"I-I was thinking of spending some time with my goat." Issei answered while struggling to gain some distance from Gion to breathe better

"What goat?" Gion asked, her curiosity causing her to stop squishing the boy

Issei breathe in, relieved. "It's the pet Garp-san gave to Gramps, but out of the three of us back home he stays the most with me so it's basically mine and since he's still small he sleeps in my room most nights."

The two young women imagined Issei in bed happily hugging the small animal.

""C-cute…"" The two muttered as steam came off their head due to cuteness overload

Hina quickly recovered. "Does he have a name?"

"No not yet." Issei answered. "I still didn't find one that I think fits him."

"And where is your furry friend right now?" The Commander asked

"He's in Gramps office. Do you want to meet him?"

Hina smiled at the casual way Issei invited them to an Admiral's office, like a kid inviting his friends to come over.

Gion had similar thoughts, added with a concern. "Won't it trouble your grandfather though? He's a very busy man according to Tsuru."

"It's fine. I can just pick the goat up and bring him outside if you're worried about bothering Gramps." Issei waved off

Gion eyed Hina with one arched brow. "What do you say?"

Hina shrugged. "Hina curious; I wonder out of the two who's the cutest?"

Issei groaned as the Commander shook her head.

"Then it seems we're going with you Issei-kun." Gion said, amused

 **\\\**

"Gion-chan, why did Rosinante got so terrified when he saw you?" Issei asked

The trio was approaching Sengoku's office, with each marine walking at one of Issei's side, at his left, Gion's expression turned into a sheepish one after the boy's question.

"You see," Hina answered in her place. "Tsuru-san considers Gion like her little sister, so you could say that she's pretty protective of our Commander here. When Rosinante had first tried peeping the female officers, it was Gion here that told Tsuru-san what the creep was doing."

Issei's mouth made an "o" shape of understanding before looking at his front. "There's Gramps office- oh, someone's coming out."

Just as the boy remarked, the sliding door of Sengoku's office had opened and two figures walked out of the room. One taller than most people and the other seemed of average height.

"Haaah, it's been so long since the last time we came to Marineford. This place is too quiet and peaceful, it's unsettling me." The taller one grumbled

"Any place can be described like that when compared to the New World, its like oranges and apples. I'm sure some food will settle you down." The smaller one reasoned, closing the door behind them

Hina and Gion halted their stride, eyes wide when they recognized who were these two in front of them. But before any words managed to leave their mouths, Issei reacted first.

"Uncle Buccaneer! Uncle Miles!" The boy shouted lively, running at the two

The young women stared, shocked, at Issei as ran, their eyes widen even more to the point of hurting. Their minds were in disarray as they try to process how the boy had referred to the two high ranking officers and how simultaneously showed that he was acquaintances with two of the most notorious Vice Admirals.

The two Vice Admirals snapped their heads in Issei's direction. Buccaneer sported a massive grin while Miles had a small smile gracing his features.

"I'll be damned, if it isn't the Young Boss!" Buccaneer exclaimed exuberantly

When Issei got close enough, Buccaneer picked him up with one hand and seated him in his left shoulder. "I wish I could say that you've grown a lot since I last saw you but that would be lying Huahaha!" The Vice Admiral joked

Buccaneer stopped laughing the moment a pouting Issei pulled hard at the man's thin lines that composed his moustache, one in each hand.

"That's not funny!" Issei complained, giving the moustache another pull

"OW! Okay okay, I won't tease you for now."

Satisfied, Issei let go of the hair strands before eyeing Buccaneers right arm. "Did you change your arm Uncle?"

Buccaneer grinned again before raising his right arm, if the massive thing could be called such thing.

As Hina and Gion took in the Vice Admiral appearance, they quickly reached the same conclusion: there was no way of forgetting how Buccaneer looked like. For starters, he was taller than your average person, almost reaching Kuzan's height. Secondly, his unique hairstyle made of a mohawk and a braided ponytail and facial hair resulted in a very distinct face. And lastly, but certainly not least, his feature that set him apart from anyone else was the absurdly huge mechanic arm he possessed in place of his normal right arm.

"It sure is! How you like this one?" Buccaneer proudly said, his voice booming through the corridor

The massive prosthetic was without a doubt created with the single purpose of being used for combat as in place of a hand, there was what resembled an animal's jaw, an elongated one at that. The jaw had four rows of pointed teeth and as Buccaneer showed off his arm by repeatedly opening and closing the jaw, some sparks were made when a tooth hit another.

"So cool!" Issei beamed

Miles, who until now was content in only watching the two, attempted to warn his comrade. "Perhaps it would be best if you tone it down a bit, otherwise you-"

"Huahaha I know right? Those crazies from the science division really outdid themselves!"

Miles warning fell to deaf ears and before he had the chance to try again, what he feared happened.

*SLAM*

Sengoku's office door almost flew away as it was forcefully opened. "Buccaneer!"

The commanding and displeased voice cut off the Vice Admiral's laughter; making the man pale and stiffen, almost causing Issei to fall off. Hina and Gion yelped in surprise and Miles sighed.

"Save your idle chat for when you're in the refectory! I don't need your stupidly loud voice bothering my business!"

Buccaneer straightened up his posture. "Yes sir! Forgive me for my blunder!"

Buccaneer's tone was now even, given that the situation had changed, he was now directly answering his superior.

The two young women couldn't believe in what they were seeing, the rumors they wanted to check out were really true. Before them stood not only who was indisputably one of strongest persons in the Navy but also the icon of every female marine there is. Giving the Vice Admiral a glare with her only visible cerulean eye, as the other was covered by a long bang of blonde hair, that pierced the person's very soul was the most feared woman throughout the Grand Line.

Admiral Olivier Armstrong, the first woman to achieve the second highest ranking there is in the Navy and the youngest in the organization's history to do so, at the age of thirty. As the younger female marines stared at her, at each passing second the Admiral seemed more imposing because of the air of command and regality she gave off. She also possessed a beauty befitting of royalty, with her waist long, lustrous hair and her rather full pink lips, definitely worthy of being called "Ice Queen", one of her aliases.

Her piercing gaze did not waver even after the Vice Admiral formal apology. "See that it doesn't repeat itself."

If possible, Buccaneer posture became straighter. "Yes sir!"

Before Olivier could say anything else, something jumped at her, attaching itself to her by the neck. The Admiral didn't even budge or flinch from the sudden impact, her gaze slowly moving from her subordinate to the motive of Buccaneer's lively mood.

Hina and Gion's eyes almost fell off their sockets as they saw Issei hugging the Admiral. Olivier was known for being even stricter than Sengoku and Garp, mostly having an aloof attitude. For her to let this to pass, only something short of a miracle would be enoug-

"Mom, you're here too!" Issei shouted happily, burying his face in the woman's neck

In an instant, Olivier's fearsome gaze became softer, as she stroked the boy's hair soothingly with a gloved hand. "It's good to see you Issei. How have you been?"

The two young female's minds came to a halt, as if the world had come crashing down. They couldn't believe that not even ten minutes ago they were casually speaking with the son of the world's strongest woman. They looked for support on whatever was closer to them, one finding it on the wall in one side and the other with the wooden rails, as their eyes spun in their globes.

"I've been well." The boy answered, his voice still giddy

"Have you enjoyed your time here so far?"

The boy nodded, burying his face even more. "Gramps has been really nice to me and I made some friends."

"That's good to hear. I still have some matters to discuss with your grandfather for now but we'll have plenty of time to talk later okay?" Olivier softly asked

Issei raised his face, showing his mother a smile. "Un! I have lots of stuff to tell you!"

Olivier nodded before putting Issei on the ground. The boy then turned to Miles, whom he had yet to talk with.

"I n-need a cigarette to cope with all of this." Hina said weakly

So much for doubting in Issei's capacity of surprising developments.

"I'll gladly accompany you with a cup of sake." Gion added

Having mostly recovered from their shock and now standing on their own, the two female officers were almost regretting accepting Issei's offer to see his pet. They certainly didn't expect such groundbreaking news to be dumped at them when they got off their beds in the morning.

"Hina-chan! Gion-chan!"

The two women turned to see Issei, once more sitting on Buccaneer's shoulder, approaching them with Miles on toll. The smaller Vice Admiral stopped the young women when they were about to salute him and Buccaneer.

"There's no need for that formality for now. We're not on our time off, so to say." Miles explained

Issei nodded. "Uncle Miles and Buccaneer are going to get something to eat. Do you want come with us?"

Gion glanced uneasily at Hina, who was giving her a similar look. "We wouldn't want to intrude…" The Commander said

"Nonsense huahaha! Any of the Young Boss friends is more than welcome!" Buccaneer declared

"Indeed." Miles added

The young women looked at Issei's expectant expression and just couldn't find in themselves to say no to him.

"Alright!" Issei exclaimed when the two agreed, pumping his fists

Still at the office's door, Olivier watched like a hawk the group leaving towards the refectory, more specifically, she was watching her son.

"He looks happy." Olivier said

At her back, Sengoku observed his fellow Admiral. He always found interesting to see how much Issei was able to change the Ice Queen. "He is. But I fear that in the upcoming days his happiness might suffer."

Olivier furrowed her brow. "Zephyr. When will we reconvene?"

Her tone grew cold, consequence of the potential harm, no matter in what form, to her son.

"The earliest possible when Tsuru returns." Sengoku said

"Very well." Olivier turned, facing Sengoku with her ever sharp gaze, making him fidget. "Buccaneer and Miles will stay in my house if they so wish and I will be lodging in yours for the period of time that I remain in the island. I'll be under your care." She then gave the man a deep bow

Sengoku's eyes widen. "What?! Why would you do that?"

Still bowing, Olivier raised her head, locking her gaze with Sengoku's. "Why, it is only natural that I would like to spend as much time as possible with my son and father-in-law."

Sengoku cringed. There it was, one of the reason's the bespectacled man had a hard time when dealing with Olivier. Ever since she married with his son, whenever in private and not on official business, she would always refer to him as "Father" and something about seeing such a frightening and harsh woman act like a proper and respectful daughter-in-law just didn't sit well with him.

"I'll be under your care Father." She repeated

"Gah! Fine!" Sengoku relented

 **\\\**

"Thank you." Miles voice cut through the loud noise of chatter in the refectory

Hina and Gion, who were sitting with the Vice Admiral waiting for Buccaneer and Issei to return with their servings, eyed the man confusedly.

"For you two being Issei's friends," Miles explained. "Or at least being acquaintances."

With one hand Miles reached for one of his pockets while the other removed his goggles with dark lens, revealing his bright red irises.

The young women gulped with small blushed as they watched the man calmly rub a small piece of cloth over each lens. They had thought of Miles being an attractive man before, but now that his eyes were visible, they were certain that he was handsome. His red eyes complemented his more toned skin; his white was pulled back into a small and spiky ponytail. His chiseled features added to his more mature and calm charm.

"So far, Issei didn't have a stable life." He finally said

"What do you mean?" Gion asked

Miles stared at the distance, at an excited Issei laughing with Buccaneer. "He already had to deal with a somewhat absent mother, since our leader has a lot of responsibilities given her station and the fact that she's a main player of the Navy in the main battlefield, the second half of the Grand Line, the New World. Even so, she would try to visit him whenever possible but mostly he had only his father with him."

"His father... Admiral Sengoku's son…" Hina muttered

"Correct." Miles spoke

"But he's not a marine officer is he? Certainly that man's son wouldn't be unheard of if he did join." Gion argued

"Until I've heard of Issei being Sengoku-san grandson I had no idea the Admiral even had a son." Hina added

"Once again correct. However, it is not up to me to divulge the specifics of why there's so little about Sengoku's son."

Hina and Gion nodded. There was a reason of why this secrecy existed and it was none of their business to know about it.

"Aside from his peculiar parenting," Miles continued. "Issei's father work made it so they never stay in one place for very long, traveling from island to island. Consequentially, Issei didn't have the chance to have many friends. You two and whoever else he considers to be his friend in here are probably the first ones he had time to properly interact in his life aside from his family, Buccaneer and I."

"So I thank you for giving him the opportunity to have a resemblance of a normal childhood. And I kindly ask that the two of you refrain from spreading what you found out today."

After saying his piece, Miles pocketed the small cloth back and put on his goggles. Hina lit a cigarette, not caring anymore about her food and Gion gazed sadly at the nearing small form of Issei.

"If you hold that your food will get smelly Hina-chan!" Issei complained, his tongue stuck out

Hina smiled at the boy. It was a relief to see that despite some hardships the boy had already endured he still possessed a cheerful disposition.

 **\\\**

 **(Marineford Town)**

On the more secluded area reserved for the elite of the Navy, on one of the bigger houses that could be found within the island, a man found himself alone sitting on the floor of what was once his living room.

The only source of light was inside the room was that of the fading rays from the sun that managed to pass by the curtains. These few rays of light showed a room that seemed to have been frozen in time.

*GULP*GULP*

"Aaah…"

Sitting in one of the steps of the stairwell was the Zephyr, in one hand a greenish bottle with a label written Jerez, the Admiral's favorite alcoholic beverage. His tired and dry eyes took in the whole room, from left to right, from right to left, over and over again as memories continued to flood incessantly. Memories from happier times that now seemed to show a life of centuries ago.

As Zephyr looked at one of his sofas, its cushions lacking its round shape due to its messy state, he remember that the afternoon he and his son sleep together on the day before the boy and his mother left for their trip.

On the floor, all spread around the floor was his son's toys with the box that they were kept in open at their side. On the day of their trip, his boy rummaged the box, looking for his favorite toy to take with him during the trip. Zephyr recalled telling him that he could drop the whole box on the floor to avoid getting late and that he would put it all back in later when he had the time.

*GULP*GULP*GULP*

On another corner of the spacious room was a comfy looking armchair, with a closed book resting on it. It was one of those sappy novels which Zephyr never really cared for but his wife on the other hand loved them, always buying the newest one. It was always amusing how worked up she would get trying to explain to the purple haired Admiral why he should give this type of books a chance so at one point the couple reached an agreement; starting from the next novel release, Zephyr and his wife would sit together and read it. That way his wife would have a better way to show the book's good qualities.

*GULP*GULP*

He moved his gaze to the object on his other hand. He held a portrait that showed a moment from the day his family had moved up to the house he was currently in. He couldn't believe that the smiling man in the photo was the same he saw in the mirror. In the picture, a younger Zephyr was kneeling with open arms as his son ran marched towards him while wearing his old Navy cap and his marine cap that was too big for the small boy so most of was being dragged through the ground. All the while, at their side Zephyr's wife happily watched the two most important men in her life play.

As he eyed wistfully one of his fondest memories, a pained expression slowly formed itself in his face as he remembered him witnessing two coffins being lowered into their pits. The funeral service was a simple and small one, aside from him only his late wife family, the ones that survived, attended, since it was the Admiral's wish to do the service that way.

He raised the bottle to take another swig, only to find that the bottle was empty. He felt a surge of anger at the site of his source of solace being dry and gritted his teeth before hurling the bottle at one of the walls.

"Fuck!" He roared

*CRACK*

Zephyr snapped his head in the direction of the noise and his eyes widen when he saw that amidst his anger, he had squished with ease the portrait in his hand. He hurriedly unclenched his fist, not caring for the cuts in his hand made by the glass shards, only worrying if the picture was still intact.

"Hah, thank God…"

The picture was mostly intact, the only part damaged that lost a bit of its color and had one very small cut in it was where Zephyr was, ironically enough. The Admiral stared at his now distorted face on the photo and illustrated, accidentally or not, the truth.

"What am I supposed to do?" He wondered, his voice broken

Zephyr asked out load and differently from the past, where his question would have received some kind of answer, now, all there was silence.

 **\\\**

 **(Sengoku's house)**

"Come on Mom, I'm getting sleepy." Issei whined from his bed

"Patience Issei. I'm almost finished." Came Olivier's answer from across the room

Currently, the Admiral was hanging her clothes in one of the closets in Issei's room, since the house only has three rooms, sharing one of them was unavoidable and the boy was clearly the best choice. Not that the Olivier would have chosen differently even if there was a fourth vacant room. Sengoku had taken the goat to his room, so that the two could have a proper and much needed mother and son time.

"… Can I ask you something?" Issei inquired

"Of course."

The boy scratched his cheek. "Why do you always wear this uniform Mom?"

While it was common to see Admirals or Vice Admirals wearing suits, or any type of social clothing, Olivier deviated from that norm quite glaringly. Like the boy had pointed out, Olivier was always seen with a uniform, a military one. However, it had no connections with the Navy since there wasn't any symbol, emblem or mention to the organization stamped on it. The uniform was of a deep blue color and had a yellow aiguillette on one of its arms with epaulets of matching color.

"These uniforms are from the army of where I was born. However, they aren't used anymore; the ones I have are likely to be the last ones intact." She explained

The Admiral stepped away from the closet after putting the last piece of clothing inside it and turned in her heel, walking towards the bed. She wore a black tank top with baggy shorts, showing off that despite being slender, she had a muscular build.

"And what about that sword you're always carrying around, how did you got it?" Issei asked

"That sabre is a family heirloom, passed throughout my family's generations." Olivier said

Issei barely resisted the urge to jump in his bed. "So that means one day I will have your sword?"

A small smile danced on Olivier's lips at her son's eager expression. "Who knows, maybe. Scoot over a little bit."

Issei happily complied and moved from the middle of the bed to one of its sides, giving enough space for his mother lay down with her back turned to the wall. As soon as she felt comfortable, Olivier brought Issei closer, hugging him with one arm and with her other hand she caressed the boy's hair. An elated smile settled on the boys face as he basked in his mother's warmth.

Issei looked up at Olivier. "Can you tell me about your family?"

"You never once asked this type of things. Is there a reason to your small inquiry?" She asked, still caressing his head

"Not really, just curious."

Olivier stared searchingly at her son, until the boy gave in and looked away. He spoke in a small voice. "I just wanted to know more about you…"

Olivier's brow arched in surprise before a warm smile formed in her lips. "I see. I'm very happy to know that you want that, however, this particular subject is reserved for when you're older."

Issei pouted. "That's not fair Mom! At least tell me where you're from!"

Olivier remained silent for a while. "North Blue."

"That's the opposite of mine." Issei commented

The Admiral nodded. Issei was born in a small clinic in South Blue, on a more isolated island hoping to avoid the news that Olivier Armstrong had a child spread out, if such a thing occurred, it would consequently put Issei in harm's way. There was no shortage of people that would go after the boy out of spite for her. But even with all the hurdles that came with pregnancy and the additional ones on her specific case, Olivier would never come to regret going through it all, as the moment she held the newly born Issei was to forever be one of the moments she felt immense joy welling inside her.

"Now that most of your curiosity was taken care of, it's turn to sate mine." Olivier stated. "Those two young women I saw with you earlier…"

"Hina-chan and Gion-chan?" Issei supplied

"Yes, are they the friends you mentioned you had made?"

At this new topic, Issei glowed from his spot, nodding fervently. "Gion-chan I met today for the first time and Hina-chan has been my friend for a few weeks, but they're not the only ones! There's also Tsuru-chan, Zephyr-sensei, Smokey, Rosinante and Kuzan-sensei."

Olivier kindly watched her son happily listing names. She did noticed that his voice wavered when he said the name of the only Admiral that wasn't in this house, but decided not to broach this matter until everything was decided, whether for better or for worse .

"Rosinante, that's the name of the young marine that lives here isn't it?"

"Yep, that's the one." Issei confirmed

"He looked awfully restless at dinner." She said

"He probably was like that because of you Mom."

"Because of me?" Olivier repeated, not really surprised at this possibility

If that truly was the case, then Rosinante was far from being the first person to act like that in her presence. When the teenager had seen Olivier, he looked like he was about to faint. During dinner the blond was having a hard time in picking his food from his plate, since his hand was shaking a lot.

"Un! I think he was scared that you were going to do something to him since today he tried to peep the female locker room but was caught before he even reached the room and then ran away." Issei explained

"… You seem well informed about this event. Just how is that you know so much about it?" Olivier droned out

Not realizing the underlying danger, Issei answered. "I was there since Rosinante took him with me."

…

"You were there out of your own free will?"

"Yeah I was." Issei said, oblivious to the thin ice he was treading

The boy did forgot to mention that through more than half the way Rosinante hadn't said anything about where they were going or what they were going to do; a rather crucial detail.

Olivier blinked. "I see."

The Admiral took in a deep breath. She will have to discipline her fellow blond for attempting to tarnish her beloved son's purity and Issei as well, for going along with such despicable act. An adequate punishment for the two of them was needed.

Her train of thought was pushed to the back of her mind when she felt Issei stir to face her, his small arms snaking around her torso to hug her. Olivier grew concerned when she felt the boy's appendages tremble.

"What's wrong Issei?" She softly asked, managing to keep her worry out of her tone

"I-I really missed you Mom." Issei's answer was subdued; he then buried his head just below Olivier's bosom

She felt her heart wrench seeing Issei look so much smaller and fragile. She immediately wrapped both her arms over the boy, rocking him back and forth gently. She brought her face close to his, as if to envelop all of him and comfort him. In response, Issei tightened his hold over the blonde.

"I've greatly missed you as well Sweetie." She called by the affectionate nickname she used when he just barely grown from being a toddler. "You know that if I could I would never leave your side."

"Your job is very important; putting bad guys in prison." Issei stated

When he started missing his mother, badly, for the first time, his father had tried his best to explain why Olivier spent so much time away from them. He had explained in the simplest way possible so that a three year old boy could understand. For the most part it had resolved most of the issue, since from that moment onwards Issei had cherished even more the brief periods of time he had with Olivier. However, his inevitable sadness and yearning when she left had also grown.

"Look at me Sweetie." Olivier tenderly pleaded. "Please."

Issei looked up tentatively and met Olivier's loving gaze, one that she only showed to two individuals in her whole life. A sense of security and warmth quickly flooded the boy.

"You are the most important thing in my life. I love you so much and always will, never forget that."

Issei smiled brightly at her, relief oozing in his features. "I love you too Mom."

He then yawned, his eyelids becoming heavy. Seeing that the boy wouldn't remain conscious for much longer, Olivier kissed his forehead before gently resting his head on her torso.

"Night Mom." Issei drawled before drifting off

"Good night. Sweet dreams." Olivier wished before giving in to her own tiredness

* * *

 **(Fleet Admiral Kong's Office)**

"It's taking quite a while for him to get here…"

"If you're going to open your mouth to state the obvious, then please don't Garp."

"I was just commenting, no need to be cranky Tsuru." Garp grumbled

Despite what he had just say, he and everyone else present knew that Tsuru had every right to be moody if she so wished. As if the stress and exhaustion from her mission and the trip wasn't enough, as soon as stepped outside her battleship Tsuru had her presence required by Kong, who then proceeded to drop on her the tragic fate of Zephyr's family, the man's attempt at leaving the Navy's ranks altogether and the meeting that would be held today now that she had returned. Having only a few hours to unwind until the meeting would take place wasn't nearly enough for her.

At their side, Sengoku sighed at the two Vice Admiral's bickering while tapping his foot repeatedly on the floor; that being his only sign of anxiety. The last two present in the room remained impassive, not demonstrating any interest in what was currently happening within the room and quietly waited for Zephyr's arrival. Olivier sat in one of the available armchairs with her sabre at her side; she had one leg crossed over the other, arms folded and eyes closed. Kong, who sat behind his desk in the middle of the office, stared intently at the door with his face hidden by his steepled fingers.

"Be patient Garp. He'll be here eventually." Kong said. "Let us hope that the time he had to reflect was of any help."

On that point, all of those present could agree.

After spending almost half an hour in silence, the door slid open revealing the purple haired man they were all waiting.

"Forgive me for my lateness." Zephyr said

The purple haired man stood inside the Fleet Admiral's office, facing the four marines there present.

"It is of no consequence. What matters is that you're here." Kong waved off

Zephyr glanced at Olivier, meeting her piercing gaze head on. "Admiral Oliver, it is good to see you in good health. Thank you for coming so quickly from the New World; it must have an arduous journey."

"Think nothing of it. I was merely acting in accordance to my duty." Olivier replied, still scrutinizing the man

Despite the rather curt words, Zephyr gave her a thankful nod.

"Also," Olivier added. "My condolences for your loss."

Zephyr was surprised when the usual aloofness in the blonde's voice receded, giving room to sympathy to seep into her tone.

"I would like to offer my sympathies as well. No one should have to experience what you have." Tsuru spoke up

The towering Admiral eyed his oldest friend. Tsuru's features had the usual sternness, only her eyes weren't able to hide the concern she felt for him.

"Thank you." Zephyr said to the two women

"Now then," Kong started. "We should move on to the reason we're all gathered here."

That earned the Fleet Admiral the undivided attention of all the other marines.

"Zephyr, do you still to resign from the Navy?"

The tension immediately heightened at the fateful question. Garp was the most uneasy, as he was biting and moistening his lips and kept shooting glances at everyone in the room. Sengoku tried to remain impassive but the slight narrowing of his eyes and the tightening of his hands on his crossed arms gave away his nervousness. Tsuru expression became a resigned one, certain that the outcome wouldn't be a favorable one.

Much like when the four were waiting for Zephyr's arrival, Kong and Olivier were the only ones that managed to avoid showing their thoughts and feelings on the matter, wearing an inscrutable look.

Zephyr didn't say anything as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. When he thought back to the disaster that had befallen him, the bitterness and despair that came that hit him like tons of bricks clouded everything around him, narrowing his sight to only the fact that his family was gone forever, of how much they must have suffered before death's cold embrace took them. He wanted nothing more than to leave everything behind, no matter the consequences.

"Before Zephyr says anything decisive, may I speak a few words?" Olivier's steely voice cut the growing tension like a knife

"You may." Kong conceded

It was well know that the soldiers stationed at the G1 base were fiercely loyal and trusted unconditionally on Olivier and her judgment. Her epithet of "Ice Queen" did not only apply to her cool attitude, but also to her absolute reign in the G1. Perhaps her powerful oratory can be the key to convincing Zephyr of remaining in the Navy.

A lull followed as Olivier critically eyed Zephyr, her gaze unwavering in its intensity and focus.

"Zephyr has earned his station due to many reasons and one of them was your battle prowess. There's no questioning that he is one of our strongest soldiers, but looking at him now it is painfully clear and obvious to see that he has lost his motivation to fight against the scum that prowls our world. If a soldier is incapable to give his all them he's weak, becoming a liability to his comrades and putting those around him in risk. I have no use for the weak in the Grand Line's seas and nor will I feel safe in entrusting them to have my back when push comes to shove. If the feared Black Arm Zephyr is no more, then the Navy has no use of what remains of him." Olivier said without hesitation

The other high ranking marines grimaced at the blonde's words, with the exception of Zephyr. Kong bit the inside of his cheek. He had forgotten that Olivier had no tolerance for the weak or for those without willpower; the latter one was something that Zephyr was lacking enough to warrant such blunt words from the blonde. While they had some merit, they were the furthest thing that needed to be said if they wanted to avoid Zephyr's resignation. That is, if they still had any chance on achieving that outcome.

"However, there's more to you than simply being a renowned soldier isn't there?" Olivier inquired, making herself the center of attention. "You've not only earned the adoration and respect of soldiers of various ranking through your achievements but also, whenever you had time, you would mentor many of them. Some have only gone as far as they had because of you. According from what I heard, you're as formidable of a teacher as you're a fighter."

Olivier paused momentarily, allowing her words to sink.

"Wouldn't you like to keep molding and helping prepare the next generation of marines, so that we can be assured that the Grand Line will be in capable hands in the future? Or have you lost your desire of teaching rookies as well?"

Kong's eye widened at what Olivier was implying, cursing himself for not having even considered it before. He had forgotten about Zephyr's hobby, a glaring blunder on his part since the purple haired man's teachings had given them some of the finest soldiers that they had at their disposal, like the three newest Vice Admirals Borsalino, Sakazuki and Kuzan. All three of them had enough power to be considered for an Admiral position in the future should a vacant spot appears.

Focus solely on teaching. The idea certainly had appeal to Zephyr as he always enjoyed himself whenever he had time to mentor the younger marines and it gave him great satisfaction seeing his pupils become great marines. But he couldn't help and be worried if he still was capable of being the instructor that he was and he had already let down his newest pupils during the period where his grieve was the strongest. As he thought of his students, the ones that left a bigger impression on him came to mind: Hina, Smoker, T-Bone, Shuu and of course, there was no way Zephyr would forget who was probably his most vibrant student, Issei. A boy that wasn't even old enough yet to properly join the Navy yet did not shy away from his taxing training. A boy that had earnestly asked to be trained by the towering Admiral only for said Admiral to disappear after a few days of accepting Issei's request.

Zephyr clenched his fist. "I… I don't know."

It didn't escape Kong's eyes the inner conflict that was brewing within the purple haired man and he decided to capitalize on that. "How about we take a break and resume this meeting on later hour today?"

Zephyr nodded absentmindedly, surprising the others with how easily he agreed with the proposition.

"Then in three hours we'll continue." Kong decided

Without saying anything else, Zephyr left the room. He now had something to do and this break was more than enough for him to resolve his pendency.

"Was that a wise move?" Tsuru voiced her concern

Both Garp and Sengoku stared expectantly at the Fleet Admiral, having similar thoughts on the matter.

"Yes, this will give Zephyr some time to mull over what Olivier pointed out. I do believe that if we were to demand an answer of him right now, it would be the same one he had said when he brought this matter to me. The fact that he so promptly accepted the break only strengthens my belief that he's wavering on what to do and that these hours will be crucial for him to come to a decision." Kong explained

Garp scratched his beard. "I don't know, what if he doe-"

"What's done is done. There's no use in doubting what Kong has decided and frankly I agree with this course of action. The card we played was our best chance and even then it is a flimsy one." Olivier declared

The blonde then stared at the Vice Admiral. "Or do you see something that eluded me?"

Garp shifted uncomfortably under the sharp gaze. "Yeah, no, I guess not."

Sengoku sighed. It still amazed how Garp cowed when faced with Olivier. Maybe he should ask her some tips so that then he'll be able to reduce the amount of headaches the man gave him.

 **\\\**

 **(Olivier's Office)**

"Are you serious?! Mom really did that?" Issei asked, jumping to his feet on the couch cushion

"You bet your ass she did! She leveled the whole thing in one go." Buccaneer said, matching the boy's enthusiasm

"It must have been so awesome! Mom's crazy strong!" Issei shouted

"She sure is huahaha!" Buccaneer agreed

"Olivier _did_ wanted at the time to quickly resolve the situation so that we could reach here as fast as possible." Miles stressed

Since Kuzan had to attend to other matters, having no time for Issei, the boy decided to talk with the Vice Admirals that diligently followed his mother, something that the two were more than willing to comply. The trio moved to Olivier's room not only because it was away from prying eyes, allowing them to talk freely, but also because from the lack of use, the office must filled with cobwebs and dust by now. So, airing the room a bit was a bonus.

"And you," Miles turned to the other Vice Admiral. "It would be best if you refrain from using your more crass vocabulary. Or did you forget what happened last time you did it and Olivier heard about it?"

The boisterous man froze, his laughter dying immediately. He shivered as the memories of that incident came to him. He shook his head, trying to not think of it any more than he already had. He had no need for restless nights.

"A-anyways, before we reached our final stop, we first visited Impel Down and dropped the apprehended pirates with the Head Jailer Shiliew." He continued

"You visited the biggest prison there is?!" Issei asked awed. "What's it like there?"

"It's not like we went inside the place, we merely dropped the criminals at the entrance. From there on the pirates became the prison staff responsibility." Miles answered, taking over the topic. "We've only really entered the prison a handful of times, and when we did we only stopped in the lowest level, so whatever is in between the first and last level eludes me."

"How many levels there are?"Issei wondered

"The stronghold is made of a total of six levels." Miles answered. "Its quantity of layers and exceptional personnel are some of the reasons of why Impel Down has earned the epithet of Great Prison and in its long existence has only one prisoner that has managed to escape from there."

"So cool!" The boy gushed in amazement

A knocking on the door and the creaking sound that followed halted the carefree conversation of the trio.

"Sorry for intruding."

Issei's head snapped at the doors direction when he heard the raspy voice. When his eyes landed on the newcomer, the boy was surprised at the site of the person he would occasionally fret about, Zephyr. But what truly alarmed Issei was the man's appearance.

For the boy it almost felt as if he was looking at another person. Zephyr's whole appearance was disheveled. His clothes were untidy; his suit jacket was unbuttoned, showing both his tie and dress shirt hanging loosely. There was unkempt stubble in Zephyr's jaw and he was sporting a messy hair. He had dark circles around his eyes. This beaten man was a far cry from the charismatic and vibrant Admiral Issei missed.

"Admiral Zephyr," Miles said, breaking the silence. "I think I can safely say on my superior's behalf that you're more than welcome here, however, I must also say that it is quite the surprise to see you here. I was informed that there would be a meeting between the Admirals now, or am I mistaken?"

"No, you're not wrong. However the meeting stopped for now and will only resume later." Zephyr answered

Issei inwardly cringed. Even Zephyr's voice matched his looks.

"I wanted to talk to Issei before that." The purple haired man stated

All eyes turned to the boy in question. Suddenly feeling as if under a spotlight, Issei jumped in his seat before pointing a finger at himself, as if to make sure it was him the Admiral was talking about. Zephyr slowly nodded, once more conveying his intentions.

"Would you like for us to give you two some privacy?" Miles asked, readying himself to stand up

"There's no need for that. It isn't something that requires so much secrecy." Zephyr said

The purple haired man then turned to Issei. "It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

"… A little bit." Issei agreed

Zephyr showed him a strained smile, which the boy returned awkwardly, still clueless as to what the Admiral wanted with him and there was another thing that was nagging the boy.

"How did you know I was here?"

At that Zephyr's smile seemed to lose a bit of its strain. "Intuition."

Sitting behind Issei, Buccaneer snorted at the simple answer. "That's one way of putting it."

Miles also understood what Zephyr was implying but made no comment. Issei on the other hand, looked at the three marines feeling completely lost, like there was an inside joke he was missing.

"Anyways, I came here looking for you to apologize." Zephyr said

Issei furrowed his brows. "What for?"

"For abruptly stopping your training without any warning or justification and for that, I'm sorry."

Issei's eyes widen when he noticed that the Admiral was about to bow to him. He flailed his arms trying to make Zephyr stop.

"I, um, wait! I understand Gramps told me you have a lot of stuff to deal with recently so you didn't had any spare time, its fine! You were already doing me a huge favor by training as much as you did, so you don't need to apologize." Issei hurriedly said

"… I see. Thank you for being so comprehensive."

Issei rubbed his arm nervously. "Will you be able to train me again one of these days?"

Zephyr's lips became a thin line and his eyes narrowed, both orbs and his features marred with regret and sadness. "I… don't that will be happening any time soon."

Issei visibly deflated. "Ah okay."

For the boy, that simply meant that maybe after a few months, perhaps a year Zephyr would be able to dedicate some time for the boy. But the two Vice Admirals present had another interpretation for the purple haired man's words; one that far less pleasant than Issei's. Buccaneer had a solemn look, his eyes showed that there were a few things in his mind that he wanted to say, but he refrained from doing so out of respect for the Admiral. Miles jaw clenched, but aside from that he didn't demonstrated any reaction.

Seeing the three different responses, Zephyr nodded. "Well, I must go then. I'm afraid that I have other matters to attend. Take care."

These two last words kept repeating in Issei's head and at each time it did, the more it made it seem like a farewell, like this was the last time they would be seeing one another. He wanted to know, he wanted to known badly what was eating away at the Admiral. What caused him to be reduced to such a state.

He took a step forward and opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out. His small determination turned into doubt. Should he really pry? Wouldn't that upset Zephyr?

What difference would he knowing it do?

And because of this question, all that Issei did was watch Zephyr's back disappearing behind the door. Issei stared at the floor, biting his lip out of frustration.

"Are you okay with this?" Miles asked after a moment of silence

Issei turned to the Vice Admiral, confusion evident in his expression. Uncertain bright blue eyes were met with inquisitive red eyes.

"Wasn't there something else you wanted to say to the Admiral?"

When the boy remained silent, debating with himself if he should tell the Vice Admiral or not, Miles spoke again, taking that decision out of Issei's hands.

"You wanted to ask him what happened to him to make him look so miserable; you wanted to know because you wanted to help him in some way. Is that correct?"

Having his intentions read and guessed so easily, Issei relented and nodded stiffly in confirmation.

"Then why haven't you said it before he left?"

Issei averted his eyes from Miles intense gaze. "Because it doesn't have anything to do with me and I don't want to be a bother."

A pregnant silence followed as Miles observed as Issei displayed his inner conflict. Miles expression didn't changed in the slightest at Issei's reasoning, but rather gave the impression that the man had expected the boy to say such things.

"Then," The Vice Admiral finally said. "I take that you've given up on your dream?"

Issei eyes snapped back at the white haired man, filled with incomprehension.

"Your dream of being a hero, that is." Miles elaborated

Issei had told the two Vice Admirals today what he dreamed of, both becoming a hero and surpassing Olivier's strength. The latter earned him a round of laughter of Buccaneer and even a chuckle from Miles.

Issei frowned. "Why would you say that?"

"Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero." Miles stated. "You claim to aspire to become one in the future, yet here you are denying an important foundation of such title."

Issei took a sharp intake of breath. He was so distraught by the current state of the man he looked up to that he even momentarily forgot his ambition. Now that he looked back, from the first time he had thought that Zephyr was acting strangely, he held himself from asking or doing something, consequently going against what his goal meant.

Miles eyes softened a bit as he saw the reflection Issei was going through and how his inner turmoil seemed to lessen by the second.

When Issei eyes focused back to Miles, there was a distinct difference in them.

"And if Zephyr-sensei gets mad at me?" The boy asked

A final push, that was all that Issei needed to spring into action.

"That's a risk you must be willing to take." Miles incited

Issei gave the Vice Admiral a grateful smile before bolting out of the room. "I'll be back in a bit!"

Miles was putting his goggles on when the sound of the door closing rang through the office once more.

"Miles," Buccaneer called "Why did you encouraged Issei like that?"

Miles eyed his longtime comrade. The bulky Vice Admiral stared at him with narrowed eyes, still sporting a serious expression and his tone was no different.

"You don't agree with my actions." Miles said matter-of-factly

There was no need to ask. The disapproval was clear in Buccaneer's expression. Out of the two, the spirited Vice Admiral was the worse of the pair at hiding his emotions and having worked together for as long as they have, Miles was able to read Buccaneer like the back of his hand.

"Of course I don't! On paper that whole heroic stuff is fucking fantastic but you know as well as I do what it's like out there! Reality doesn't give two shits about that!" Buccaneer roared

The thunderous voice would have made any lesser man shrink where they stood, however Miles was no lesser man and Buccaneer's voice wasn't nearly enough to get as much as a flinch out of him. He had seen far worse after all.

"If it displeased you so much, then why didn't you stop me?" Miles asked evenly

Buccaneer snorted. "As much as I wanted, I know how you work. You never do something without a reason, so I figured you thought of a _really_ good one for doing that."

Miles allowed a smile to grace his features. It seems that he and Buccaneer's hand had more in common than he imagined.

The white haired man schooled his features. "It's true that our world tends to be unforgiving to overly selfless dispositions like Issei's; nothing is as simple as he now assumes it is."

"However, I think that that simplicity has a better chance of reaching out to Admiral Zephyr than any words or reasoning that the other Admirals and Fleet Admiral might have come up with. I truly think that Issei now is our best chance of avoiding Black Arm Zephyr from leaving the Navy."

Sensing the conviction that Miles poured with every word and now knowing what the Vice Admiral was aiming for, Buccaneer's indignation faded away. "(sigh) I guess it's a good enough reason."

Miles looked back at the door, both his posture and demeanor relaxed. "Also, seeing him speaking so earnestly of his ambitions, no matter how absurd each of them is, (sigh) I can't help but want to help him and hope that his goal doesn't become a source of suffering."

"… A fool's hope is hope nonetheless." Buccaneer said

 **\\\**

"… I'm sorry; I don't think I heard you quite right. Would you mind saying it again?"

Unexpected was a fitting word for how Zephyr would define the site of Issei shouting his name at the top of his lungs. Shock would best describe how he felt after hearing the question the boy made to him, to the point that he even doubted his hearing.

Issei took a deep breath before repeating. "I asked you why you're looking so sad Zephyr-sensei. I-I'm worried about you."

After speaking his mind, Issei braced himself for the Admiral's reaction, whatever it may be. He unconsciously tensed up when he saw Zephyr's body went rigid, his expression hardened and in his previously blank eyes a trace of exasperation flashed in them. For a moment Issei thought that he would reprimanded, only to see Zephyr's posture relax, his shoulders slumped down and his ill humor subside, being replaced by a weary look.

"You're worried about me?" The Admiral remarked

Seeing that he wasn't about to be reproached, Issei answered. "Of course I am Zephyr-sensei!"

"And you still address me as sensei." Zephyr pointed out

Issei arched a brow. "You'll always be Zephyr-sensei to me, no matter how many mentors I have!"

Zephyr gave a mirthless chuckle. "Even after I abandoned you…"

The Admiral was purposely dancing around the topic, much to Issei's chagrin. But he had come this far, it would be pointless to give up now.

"You didn't abandon me; you just have some other stuff to worry about Zephyr-sensei, and badly by how you look! Please, tell me what happened!" He pleaded

"You would just end up regretting knowing it." Zephyr stated

"That's for me to decide!" Issei shouted

They remained in this standoff for what felt like an eternity for Issei, but even then he refused to back down and avert his gaze from Zephyr's. The purple haired man noticed the boy's stubbornness, so he gave in. Unfortunately, he gave in only their staring contest.

"And it is for me to decide if you should know." Zephyr said while walking away

The purple haired man was about to resume his pace when he felt something colliding with one of his legs. When he looked down, his eyes widened incredulously. Issei was hugging his leg with both arms and legs.

"What do you think you're doing?" Zephyr asked, honestly surprised by the boy's persistence

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me!" Issei exclaimed, tightening his hold

Zephyr threw his head back and gave a long sigh. "Why are you insisting on this so much?"

"Because it's a hero's job to do so!"

Zephyr blinked, dumbfounded. That reason was something completely outside the scope of possibilities that the Admiral came up with.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Putting your nose where it doesn't belong is what it means to be a hero!" Issei exclaimed. "And you look distressed to me so I will put my nose as much as necessary!"

When Zephyr's body began to tremble, Issei closed his eyes. He was sure that now he would be scolded but he had no regrets over what he done. He did all he could and was satisfied with his efforts. So when Issei heard a muffled chuckle he couldn't help but feel confused.

"Hahahahaha!"

Not long after, the chuckles became a throaty laughter that echoed through the corridor. Issei looked up and smiled when he saw the massive grin Zephyr sported as he laughed away. He was finally seeing a glimpse of the Admiral Zephyr that he knew and admired.

"T-that's a very archaic way of describing it!" Zephyr managed to say

"But that's what I want to be when I grow up!" Issei declared

Zephyr had honestly not given much thought when Sengoku complained about his grandson's goal being too idealistic but now he understood perfectly why he did so.

"Now that you know my reason, can you tell me what happened?" Issei pressed on, still clinging to the man's leg

Zephyr stared at the boy. He was acting like a dog with a bone; he wouldn't drop the matter any time soon. The purple haired man exhaled loudly, if he didn't say it then chances are the boy would pester someone else about and would get the brutal truth, so perhaps it would be best to tell him a watered down version.

"… I lost my guiding compass for good." Zephyr said; his tone laced with woe. "And I can't find a substitute to it."

His last sentence had a hint of despair in it. Zephyr eyed the boy and as he expected, Issei had an expression marred with confusion.

"I don't really get it." The boy admitted

Zephyr closed his eyes. An expected answer as well. At least now the boy would let him go.

"But," Issei's voice cut through his musings. "Isn't that also a part of being a hero?"

The Admiral's eyes snapped open, his brows arched in surprise.

"How so?" Zephyr asked with genuine curiosity

Issei dropped from Zephyr's leg, stood in his two feet as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Heroes face lots and lots of hardships right? And they always endure them and at one point overcome them right? So no matter how hard it may look or how long it will take I'm sure that you will beat this hardship and find your new compass thingy!" The boy crowed

…

Speechless. That's how Zephyr was after hearing the boy's solution for his problems. What shocked him wasn't just Issei's straightforward logic or that he again relayed on the textbook definition of the meaning of the word "hero", what amazed him was the absolute certainty and trust that the boy had on him. That he would without fail prevail. There was also what Issei had implied on the last bits that got his attention.

"You think I'm a hero?" Zephyr asked dubiously

Issei stared at the man as if he had made the dumbest question possible.

"I don't think you are. I'm _sure_ you're a hero!" The boy said resolutely. "You're like super strong!"

"That's it?" Zephyr inquired

Issei frowned. "No, there's more it's, um, I- I just don't know how to say it."

Zephyr remained silent as he waited for Issei to collect his thoughts.

"That time when you explained to me why the Navy exists," Issei started. "That you said that the marines need to go that extra mile if we want people to completely rely on the Navy. That totally blown my mind, I mean, until then, I wanted to join the Navy only to be crazy strong and now that I think about it, joining only for that is pretty lame. When I heard what you'd like for the Navy to become and what you fought for I was like, wow! That's so cool! Zephyr-sensei totally is a hero! I want to be like him!"

When Issei finished his "eloquent" little speech and noticed the stunned look on the Admiral's face, the boy fidget in his feet, feeling very self conscious at the moment.

"O-or something like that." Issei added awkwardly

Sengoku's grandson words and dream had struck a chord with Zephyr and resurfaced memories from times when he was of an age similar to Issei, when he was as unworldly as the boy.

"… You consider me a hero of justice?" Zephyr asked amidst his musing

Despite having his curiosity peaked at the lengthened title, Issei didn't hesitate before answering. "I do!"

The Admiral then rested a hand in Issei's head and ruffled the boy's hair, much like he did whenever he complimented him during training. Issei glanced at the man's face and was surprised to see a genuinely soft smile plastered there and that his eyes had also regained some of the life, its exuberance that he used to have in spades.

"Thank you." Zephyr said with as much sincerity as he could muster

Only two words were spoken, a simple sentence. Yet, the myriad of emotions that it tried to conveyed to Issei was anything but simple, being too much for the mind of a nine years old boy to comprehend. The boy only nodded with a content smile, glad that his words had some effect over the Admiral.

Without saying another word, Zephyr turned on his heels and walked towards the meeting, which he was now more than fashionably late.

"Take care Issei." Zephyr as he left

The boy's smile grew wider. He had no way of confirm, it was merely conjecture of his part, but something told Issei that this time the purple haired man's words didn't had the same finality from earlier. A chance, that's all it was but it was enough.

Any form of hope is hope after all.

 **\\\**

"Zephyr, what are you doing here? There's still plenty of time." Asked Kong

The purple haired man had returned to the Fleet Admiral's office, only this time there was only the commander of the Navy was there, the others left to busy themselves until the three hours run out.

Kong himself was busy, as in one of his hands he held a speaker that was attached to the den den mushi resting on the table but since the snail still had its plain face and was quiet, it was highly possible he had yet to make a call.

"About my resignation, I've decided what I'll do." Zephyr said resolutely

*CLANK*

Kong instantly dropped the speaker atop of the snail's shell, resulting in the snail to close its eyes as if it had fallen asleep.

"Whatever your answer is; is it truly definitive?"

"Yes." Zephyr instantly answered

Kong's jaw tensed before he closed his eyes, preparing himself. "Out with it then."

Zephyr took a deep breath then opened his mouth.

* * *

 **(The next day)**

Vice Admiral Sakazuki marched towards the docks, where he would then embark on the warship assigned to him for his mission. Now along with his red shirt and khaki pants, he also wore a marine cap and beige cloak that had a hood attached to it and was currently covering his head, shadowing his face.

"Oh, now there's a face I haven't seen in a long time. Shame it wasn't longer huahaha."

Hearing the unnecessarily loud voice, Sakazuki could feel the wrinkles that appeared in his forehead. He mechanically turned to the person talking to him.

"Buccaneer." The magma user growled out

"Still snappy as ever eh?" Buccaneer commented

"And you're insufferable as ever." Sakazuki sniped "What do you want?"

Buccaneer ignored the man's question. "You've fucked up. You messed with someone you shouldn't have."

A flame lit itself in Sakazuki's eyes; he had an idea of who Buccaneer was referring. "And what are you going to do about it?"

The bulky Vice Admiral grinned widely at the scathing question. "You're misunderstanding something here, I was just lucky to find you first. You gotta worry about someone else."

Buccaneer then turned around and left, much to Sakazuki's confusion.

"It has been a while Sakazuki."

The Vice Admiral's head snapped in the voice's direction instantly. It had really been a long time since he had last heard this unmistakable voice, specially directed at him.

"Olivier." He murmured

The fire in his eyes died and his tone was no longer one boiling with anger but rather, the name was spoken almost fondly. He took his time to drink in the blonde's beauty that stood before him, missing the displeased glint in her cerulean eyes.

"You know why I am here." She said

Sakazuki stared at Olivier's eyes, his face then scrunched up.

"That brat really is your son." He commented bitterly

"He is, and you would well to watch what you say of him in my presence." Olivier warned "Do not threaten him again."

At her admission and warning, the fire in Sakazuki's eyes returned with a vengeance. "How could you have a son with _him_?!"

Olivier wasn't fazed or cowed in the least by the man's snarl. "He is my husband."

Sakazuki's face contorted even further by the Admiral's answer, the fact thrown in his face only fueling his rage. "How could you lower yourself and bear the child of that pathetic man! He's a weakling! You should be with someone that stands on the same level as you! You-"

"Don't hide what you truly mean with this pathetic argumentation." Olivier ordered

"You should be with me! I am more suited for you!" He exclaimed crisply

Olivier's gaze sharpened. "Do not think for one second that you know what's best for me."

Sakazuki snorted. "That weakling-"

"Hikigaya is strong in different ways. Ways that both you and I are sorely lack. Don't try to lecture me about my husband, believe me, I know him infinitely better than you." Olivier tone was glacial, it's commanding trait stronger than ever, leaving no room for discussion

"Do not threaten my son again. **Ever**." She repeated menacingly

"Or what?" Sakazuki spat

Olivier rested her hand on the pommel of her sabre. "Or you'll fully understand why I've been given my military ranking."

And with that, she left the man alone with his thoughts.

 **\\\**

 **(Elsewhere in Marineford HQ)**

"Good morning to you all. I'm Captain Brannew and from now on I'll be the one responsible for assigning bounties to criminals."

Before the curly haired man, the seated officers didn't even blinked at the short introduction, as they kept their eyes trained on the Captain, ignoring the small table with a sake saucer and an appetizer that was set in front of each of them as a formality, waiting for Brannew to get to the crux of the meeting.

"Today will be rather brief, as there is only one matter to be discussed. However, it is one of grave importance." Brannew informed as he played in his hands with what seemed to be enrolled parchments

The officers tensed as they listened with rapt attention.

"Recently, Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul had found a ship run by archaeologists that the Navy has been on the lookout for a long time. The encounter was not a peaceful one, as out of the thirty four people inside the ship, only one survived and was taken prisoner. After a few days, the warship contacted headquarters informing of a worrying development; somehow the prisoner had escape of its cell and even manage to secure a small boat to flee. To make matters worse, Vice Admiral Saul has also gone missing; the reasons and circumstances behind his disappearance remain unknown so for now he's regarded as AWOL."

Brannew then opened one of the parchments and slapped it on the board behind him. "For already being marked as an outlaw and now adding her escape, the remaining archaeologist has been given the following bounty."

Plastered in the bounty was a picture that showed a woman, probably close to her thirties, yet her age did not detracted her beauty in the slightest. She had long, curly hair of a white color that resembled snow that framed her face. Aside from her hair, the woman had two other features that singular, only adding to her beauty. In her eyes she dark wide pupils that almost overlapped her blue iris and she also possessed a well defined nose. In her hands she held what seemed to be a rifle while the background was engulfed in flames. Bellow her picture could be read:

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

NICO OLIVIA  
39, 000, 000 BERRIES

"Before torching the archaeologist's ship, the soldiers confiscated a large amount of documents that covered their six year expedition in great length. Not only did we find out that Olivia was the leader of the group, but that there was one more member in the expedition. However, by the time we found the ship, this member had already left the group. Fortunately there was some information on him in those documents, bringing us to our next bounty." Brannew slapped the last parchment on the board.

The bounty was met with an unexpected array of different reactions. Some officers had disbelieving looks aimed at it, others narrowed their eyes.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

HYOUDOU HIKIGAYA  
56, 000, 000 BERRIES

It was neither the name nor the amount that caused such looks. It was what was above the description. It had a picture like any other bounty, but what alarmed the officers was the fact that the picture only showed a blackened silhouette with a question mark on it. That could only mean one thing.

Photo unavailable.

None of the marines present had ever seen or heard of something like this happening. For World Government, and the Navy by proxy, not have as much as a physical description of an individual, it was almost unprecedented, certainly rare. It was unsettling to not have a face to attach to the name of someone considered their enemy.

Brannew pushed his sunglasses back. "As you can see, as of now we have no picture to identify the last member. As we speak we have men trying to find any photo or information that might give us a description on Hikigaya. Aside from his name, the documents informed that for the past three years he had been supplying information to the archaeologist group, aiding them with their goal but only a recently he actually joined them for reasons unknown."

"Now, as for why these two criminals are to be considered a high priority and why they have the considerable amount of berries that they do is directly related to their expedition and its goal. What the archaeologists were looking for was-"

*SLID*

"That will be enough Captain. As of now this matter is under our jurisdiction, therefore you're not allowed to divulge any more of its details. In fact, if the gentlemen here present forget these two individuals I would be most grateful."

This time all officials had their eyes wide, some even gaped, not believing who was standing at the door. Brannew even stepped backwards, a bead of sweat trailing down his face. The Captain's sunglasses almost fell out of sheer shock.

"What is- you guys are-!"

The moment that Brannew recognized who they were he knew that both he and the officers had no other choice but to comply.

* * *

 **A/N: And that was chapter 4! A surprising revelation related to little Issei, Zephyr's predicament for better or for worse has been decided and the story begins to move with some developments. I hope everyone liked who I put as Issei's mom on the story. Olivier and her loyal Vice Admirals are the only characters that I plan, at least so far, to bring from a fandom outside of One Piece and DxD. Many thanks for those that reviewed last chapter and also for those that fav/foll the story. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if possible, consider leaving a review. Until next time, have a great day.**

 **Chapter beta was done by TheComposcreator.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or High School DxD**

* * *

 **(Four days later)**

Half of the day had already passed by and unlike most days, Issei was still inside his house. Currently, he was in the living room sitting in his mother's lap as the two rested on one of the purple sofas. Neither of them had said a word for most of the duration that they had spent there, content on simply enjoying the other's company.

Issei always felt joy just from being close to Olivier but still, he couldn't help but feel a little sad right now. How couldn't he feel down knowing that his time with his mother was limited?

He heard the sound of the front door opening and soon enough both Buccaneer and Miles appeared from the small corridor.

"All personnel have been assembled and are on their way to the docks." Buccaneer said

"The battleship is in prime condition and has been resupplied accordingly to the duration of the journey." Miles added

"Good. Then let us go." Olivier declared before turning to her son

The Admiral felt a pang of hurt at the saddened expression that Issei now had.

"You really have to go today Mom?" Issei ask, even knowing the answer he still felt the need to hear her say it

"I do Issei." Olivier answered softly. "I can't stay for overly long periods of time away from where I'm stationed. Even if I don't have anyone to answer for back there, my subordinates still need their leader."

Issei nodded. He knew well enough that his mother's job was very demanding but it didn't make it any easier when she had to leave his side.

"Now that I'm going to stay here, will you come visit me more often?"

In both his tone and gaze Olivier noticed the hopefulness that Issei had for a positive answer. Olivier smiled, happy that despite how much time she spends away from her son, he still yearned for her.

"As much as possible."

Issei smiled brightly at that. "Maybe next time Dad will be with us too."

"That would lovely. It has been a long time since the three of us have been together."

Olivier lifted her son from her lap and settled him on the sofa. She stood up and grabbed her sabre that was resting at her side and attached it to her belt.

"Take care Issei. Try not to give your grandfather too much trouble okay?"

The boy puffed his cheeks at that. "What do you mean? I don't give Gramps trouble, I'm a saint!"

Olivier chuckled before kissing Issei's forehead. She then turned to the two Vice Admirals and walked towards them, intending to head to the battleship.

"H-hey Mom."

Issei's hesitant voice caused her to stop. She eyed him over her shoulder and cocked a brow. The boy was staring his lap while his small hands were grabbing a handful of his shorts.

"Yes?" She asked

The boy gulped loudly. "A-are you happy that I plan on becoming a marine like you?"

He avoided looking at Olivier's direction, not wanting to see her reaction at what he said. He heard the sound of her boots hitting the floor, the sound growing closer each time. Soon he was able to see them in front of him.

"Are you doing this for me or because you yourself want to become one?" Olivier questioned

Still not meeting her eyes, he answered. "I want it."

He then felt a hand cup one of his cheeks and it gently raised his head. He was met with a warm smile from his mother.

"Then of course I'm happy Issei. As long as you do something because you desire to do so I will be happy. I'm happy to see the effort you been putting with your training with Kuzan."

Issei leaned into Olivier's hand. "Thanks Mom."

Olivier's answer was another kiss in his forehead.

"However," Her tone then lost its softness and her gaze gained its well known sharpness. "If I ever hear of any other adventure between you and Rosinante of that kind…"

She rested her other hand on her sabre, the silent promise in her eyes.

Issei's eyes grew wide with terror. "I-I know. Don't worry Mom."

"Good." Olivier ruffled her son's hair

She then stood up and walked pass her two subordinates, to give them the opportunity to bid their farewells to Issei while she went ahead. If she stayed any longer it would only be harder to leave later.

Issei walked up to Buccaneer, who gave a knowing look to the boy before lifting him off the ground and sat him on his shoulder. The trio then walked to the front door and stopped outside of the house.

"I hope that next time you will have grown a few centimeters Young Boss." Buccaneer joked

Miles watched with a small smile as Issei retaliated by pulling the man's moustache. The whole scene gave the white haired man a strong feeling of déjà vu, though that didn't make it any less entertaining to see.

"As much as it amuses me to watch you testing the quality of Buccaneer's facial hair, we do need to be on the move. It wouldn't do for us to make the others wait and set a bad example."

Buccaneer chuckled. "As if our leader would let any slackers stay on her ship."

Issei slowly climbed down from the Vice Admiral, not wanting to give the duo any problems. When his feet touched the ground, he felt Buccaneer's hand land on his head. The boisterous man gave the boy a wide smile when he curiously looked up and ruffled his hair.

"Take care kid. Next time I'm here I'll give you a few pointers that I'm sure that lazy ass Kuzan will forget."

Issei nodded with a smile. "That would be awesome!"

The boy's cheery expression then lessened in intensity, up to the point where there was only a small smile left with downcast eyes.

"Something on your mind Issei?" Miles asked

Issei continued to stare at the ground. "Can you guys do something for me?"

Miles arched a brow at that and threw a questioning glance at his longtime friend. Buccaneer only shrugged, being as much in the dark as the other marine.

"Of course you can." Miles answered

Issei fumbled with the hem of his jacket. "Don't let any bad guys hurt Mom okay?"

…

Buccaneer was the first to recover of the unexpected request grinned broadly. "Huahahaha even if they brought an army they would at best manage to give your mother a scratch! And that's being generous kid!"

He ruffled Issei's hair once more.

"Your mother really is more than capable of taking care of herself. Nevertheless we'll do our best to ensure her safety, so rest easy." Miles assured the boy.

With his head still under Buccaneer's paw-like hand, Issei giggled merrily. "Thanks!"

Seeing that the boy's sullen mood was gone, the Vice Admirals gave him one last goodbye before striding towards the docks.

Once the two marines were out of sight, Issei gave a despondent sigh before kicking away a small rock.

He knew that he couldn't go together with Olivier to avoid spreading around their relation. But still, he really wanted to see her departure, if only to prolong as much as possible his time with her.

He kicked another stone, his gaze following its trajectory as it kicked the ground before landing even further away than the first one. Despite it being ordinary, Issei kept staring at the two stones, absentmindedly thinking about the distance between the pebbles.

…!

Issei snapped his head to his house. The only one still inside was his furry friend, probably sleeping in one of the rooms. While he didn't liked leaving the small goat all alone, he took solace in the fact that Rosinante's day wasn't a busy, so he would return earlier than usual, and darted in the Vice Admiral's direction.

He was well aware that he couldn't go with his mother to the docks and watch her set sail. However, not once anyone mentioned anything about watching the departure from afar.

 **\\\**

Sengoku's mind was reeling from the report that he was given. His mind was so occupied with the thoughts that ran amok that not even one word of the details that Brannew was now relaying to him were being registered. In fact, he was only aware that the man was still speaking because Sengoku's unfocused gaze was resting in the direction that the Captain was standing inside his office. He was sure that young marine had noticed his taciturn expression but must have mistaken his silence as a way of showing interest as he continued his report undaunted.

"Why am I only hearing of this now?" Sengoku questioned, some of his irritation leaking into his tone

Brannew was seemingly caught off guard, as he stood slack-jawed.

"I, uh, do you mean the bounties sir?" The Captain managed to say after regaining his composure

Sengoku grinded his teeth; he was indeed bothered that the bounty issued for his son four days ago only now became known to him. But as he wanted to know everything regarding that, there were more concerning points in the report that demanded his attention first.

"While the secrecy over the bounties does bother me, what I want to know is about the operation which you just spoke of." Sengoku's eyes hardened. "Especially as to how you've obtained a Buster Call."

Brannew gulped, attempting to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "I-I'm sorry sir, but I do not know how the permission for the usage of the Buster Call was acquired. My knowledge of this operation is limited to what I've been reporting to you right now."

Sengoku leaned back in his chair, his eyes still scrutinizing the officer standing in his office. "Very well. You were recently promoted and given the task of assigning bounties isn't that right?"

Brannew's brows appeared from above his sunglass lenses. "T-that's correct sir. I'm surprised that such a small thing has reached you…"

"Your function is anything but small. Without those responsible for assigning bounties, the marines would never be able to keep tabs on every criminal out there. So keep your head high and know that you're as valuable as every other soldier in the Navy."

Brannew puffed out his chest and fought the urge to smile at the praise. "Sir, yes sir."

Sengoku nodded. "And those two bounties where the first ones that you assigned four days ago?"

"Yes sir."

Sengoku hummed, his expression now matched the look in his eyes. "Then you should be able to tell me why they were shrouded in so much secrecy. So I'll ask you, why was this information kept in a tight leash?"

Brannew panicked, thinking that the Admiral was suspecting him of withholding the bounties. "No, I didn't do it- I mean, I did but it wasn't my op-"

"Now now, I requested him to do so Admiral Sengoku. So please, don't give him such a hard time over something he had no choice yes?"

Sengoku's eyes immediately snapped in the direction of the new voice and they narrowed the moment they landed on his second guest.

Seating in the couch, with one leg resting above the other and with his arms crossed over his chest was a man that easily drawn attention to himself due to his attire. Not only was he dressed with a suit, a long coat and a bowler hat of matching white color, he also had a very peculiar and recognizable mask. Contrasting with his tanned skin of his neck, his mask showed a white face, with an eye covered in black while the other was only circulated by it; it also sported a thin moustache and beard.

Sengoku felt the muscles in his jaw jump. It wasn't because of the man's appearance or the fact that the Admiral hadn't noticed him at all, not when he had entered the office or for how long he was sitting there. Simply because he was there made the Admiral tense.

"What are you doing here," Sengoku said cautiously. "Cipher Pol Aegis Zero?"

The strongest intelligence organization there was within the World Government. If they were involved, then this whole matter just became incredibly more complicated and dangerous, the latter only for Sengoku's son.

If the lack of hospitality bothered the man, he certainly didn't show as he remained relaxed in his seat. The man slightly tilted his head. "I know that marine officers and government officers sometimes don't see eye to eye but I expected you to be above such petty things Sengoku-san."

Despite the professional way which the masked man carried himself, it didn't escape Sengoku the amused undertone in his voice.

"Cordiality only goes so far when I don't have a codename, much less a name, to address you." Sengoku countered

"Fair enough." The agent conceded. "As for why I asked the newest Captain in your ranks to keep quiet about those two criminals is fairly simple. We wanted to deal with this matter our own way."

"That doesn't explain anything." Sengoku growled. "And why did your organization decided to involve yourselves?"

The agent brought a hand to his mask and brushed his fingers where the moustache was painted, as if he were caressing a real one, to Sengoku's chagrin. He was purposely bidding his time to answer; he knew that he didn't have any obligation to answer the Admiral, as he only answered to a selected group of individuals.

"We both know that this case here is far from being ordinary. The moment that it was confirmed the intent of those archaeologists search for Poneglyphs and the Void Century, it became one of the top priorities for the World Government to find those that remain alive. That is why Cipher Pol has been called to act, with full authority over the case. That includes withholding the bounties, as it would do no good for that information to spread and cause our targets to become alert and seek hiding."

"That authority also extended to the usage of the Buster Call, which I assure you we will use it. We've tracked down that the group originated from Ohara, the island with the highest number of archaeologists. Since they ignored our censorship, they have sealed their fate in the form of total annihilation."

"What about the two criminals? Do you have anything on them?" Sengoku asked, making sure to keep his tone even and not letting it show his anxiety

Now that he knew from where the permission to use the Buster Call came from, there was nothing else to question on that point, not even the decision to use it. It was the expected course of action when it concerned things like that, the secrets that the World Government wanted to keep to themselves.

The secrets that Issei's dad hated so much.

A lull settled in, with the agent turning to face the Admiral. Sengoku was sure that under that blank face painted in the mask, the Cipher Pol agent was staring at him intently.

"Hyoudou Hikigaya..." The man finally said

Sengoku maintained his expression impassive, not reacting in any noticeable way to the name.

"If I'm not mistaken, this criminal has the same family name as your grandson. Perhaps there's a connection between them?"

The agent cupped his chin under the mask, striking a thinking pose. "Maybe Hikigaya could be a cousin or an uncle from his mother's side. Or perhaps…"

Sengoku's felt once again the masked man's eyes on him.

"He originated from the boy's paternal side?"

That set off some alarms in the Admiral's mind. No one that had any relation with the World Government was supposed to know that he had a child, much less a son. He had made sure of that, for Hikigaya's sake.

Still, Sengoku knew that now was not the time to get caught up in his worries and what ifs.

"What difference would it make? It won't change the fact that he's a wanted person that has to pay for the consequences of his actions." The Admiral stated resolutely

The agent hummed appraisingly. "That is true. A criminal _is_ a criminal, regardless of outside factors."

He then stood up, his arms disappearing under his long coat and with steps so light that barely made any sound, he made his way to the door.

"We believe that Nico Olivia has returned to her homeland, so I've dispatched Cipher Pol agents to verify its veracity. As for Hyoudou Hikigaya, we have some leads but none close to being solid."

He stopped in front of the door and turned to the other two officers.

"Thank you for your cooperation up to this point Captain," He then turned to Sengoku. "And you for your time Admiral. It goes without saying that what has been discussed here must stay here. A good day for the two of you."

Not long after the agent was gone, Brannew followed suit, having other duties to attend to. With no other distractions, Sengoku lost himself in the storm of thoughts inside his head as he replayed what he had learned. Thinking on what he could do and every outcome to his actions.

Only one thing came to his mind.

Sengoku rose from his chair and marched towards the door.

 **\\\**

 **(Minutes later)**

Sengoku only came back to his senses when he stepped in his living room, at the same moment that his house doorway slammed shut, due to the brusque way he had opened. He had absentmindedly traversed from headquarters, still processing the reality that his son was his enemy.

He took in the room in front of him and as his sensibility settled in, he came to one conclusion.

It was quiet. Eerily so. As if there wasn't a single soul in the house.

"Beee?" A drawled, inquisitive sound shattered the Admiral's assessment

He spared a glance at the portal that led to the staircase and saw the small head of the family pet poking out of the corner, his eyes drowsy, indicating that his loud arrival interrupted the animal's sleep. The goat's eyes lit up when he recognized the Admiral.

"Beee!" He chirped, much more lively than the first one

Taking it as the pet's form of welcoming him, Sengoku gave him a grateful nod. Satisfied, the goat retreated from his peeking spot, wanting to return to his previous activity.

Giving his surroundings a once over, he moved to the stairs in order to reach his room. He had expected to find at least Issei home, since he knew that at one point Olivier intended to leave to the New World, but that wasn't the case. Under any other circumstances, he would fret about Issei's whereabouts, given the boy's curious nature, it wouldn't be wrong to think that he might be snooping around where he shouldn't.

But not this time. Today, Sengoku welcomed the silence as what he was about to do wasn't something he wanted others catching wind of.

After entering his room, Sengoku wasted no time and almost hopped to closet on one of the corners of the bedroom. Moving over some clothes that rested on hangers and some piled up boxes, he eventually found what he was looking for, a medium sized sack. Sengoku easily loosed up the roped that kept it shut, revealing two Den Den Mushis, one the standard size and the other smaller and covered completely by the color white.

He grabbed the red wire that hanged loosely atop of the smaller snail and connected on the other one's side. As soon as the cable attached, the white snail woke up, blinking a handful of times before slowly glancing at the bigger snail. His eyes then became gloomy, followed by a despondent sigh and the corners of his lips fall, all around, a far cry from the usually deadpan expressions that most Den Den Mushi sported.

The Admiral then took the speaker that rested on the bigger snail's shell. Sengoku's fingers brushed the dial that was displayed on the other side of the shell. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and closed his eyes, expanding his senses.

He didn't hear anything in the upper section of his house outside of his breathing, the only presence outside of his being the goat's, which was in Issei's room. Expanding his reach to the rest of the house and his small courtyard, he didn't pick anything else, as he expected. He extended once more, this time reaching the other houses nearby.

A housewife worrying what to make for dinner for her husband when he returns.

A mother and her child walking back from the store, the child happily hugging her new book.

An old lady sitting on the veranda of her house distraught by the news of the latest actions of the Big Mom pirates that were reported on today's newspaper.

Weak auras. All those and even more surrounded or passed by the Admiral; civilians just living their everyday lives.

Feeling that it was enough as far as guarantees could go that there was no one that could attempt to eavesdrop him, given that he didn't picked up any powerful auras close to his house other than his own; Sengoku broke his focus, losing sight of auras around him or that passed by.

He quickly dialed the number he had committed to memory. The snail woke up with a deadpan face as soon as the he entered the last digit, signifying not only that it was an existing number, but that it was trying to connect with the other end of his call.

*PEREPEREPERE PEREPEREPERE*

Sengoku sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for the receiver to answer. Hopefully.

*PEREPEREPERE PEREPEREPERE*

…

*KACHA*

The snail's face changed from its deadpan, assuming a bored, bordering on standoffish expression. His eyes, however, was the place where the change would garnered the attention of most people, for Sengoku it only meant that who picked up the call was the one he expected to do so. The previous emotionless eyes became something akin to a pair that could possibly only belong to a dead fish. Yet there they were proving otherwise.

" _Now this is a surprise. I didn't expect that you would use the communicator I sent to you so soon."_

A small smile tugged the corner of the snail's lips. _"But I can't say that it is an unpleasant one. How have things been over there between you and Ise Pops? Has he already made you rip that bizarre afro of yours out of frustration?"_

Despite his grim mood, Sengoku couldn't avoid but let escape a chuckle at his son's teasing. He didn't respond in kind though, the nature of this call left no room for that.

"You really did it this time." Sengoku said. "Your latest endeavor, at last, crossed that line. You're a wanted man now Hikigaya."

The small smile immediately faded, if not for the dire news, then because of Sengoku's aloof tone. _"What about Ise? Did they link him to me?"_

The urgency and trepidation that tinged Hikigaya's tone was strangely good to hear. It was reassuring that he cared more for his son's safety than his own.

"No, information on you is scarce to say the least; Issei's safe. I was very thorough when I erased all and any documents that related the two of us when you decided to be an _archaeologist_."

Hikigaya's relieve was palpable when he heard his father's assurance. It didn't escape him that by the end of Sengoku's explanation, his aloofness gave way to disappointment. The snail eyed the Admiral with the closest thing it could muster of a knowing look.

 _"Pops, I know you're not particularly fond of my choi-."_

"That's not the problem here and you know it." Sengoku now made no effort to hide his discontentment

"Just-." An exasperated sigh. "How many times did I tell you to never go after anything even remotely related to the Void Century? I told you that despite being able to make you a ghost so that you could have a chance of integrating yourself in the rather reclusive society of archaeologists, if you go near this topic, sooner or later, the World Government will know!"

" _And all the parties involved will be hunt like animals right?"_ Hikigaya snarled

"It is knowledge strictly forbidden by the World Government." Sengoku replied with practiced ease

The snail snorted. _"One of the many things they keep hidden from the rest of the world; how ironic for an organization with such name to do adopt a policy like that!"_

"Perhaps." Sengoku conceded. The system _was_ far from perfect. "That doesn't make your actions any less wrong or free from being criminally indicted. It's as if you didn't think this through and threw caution to the wind and damned be the consequences!"

An outraged expression formed in the snail's face. _"Do not treat me like a kid! Of course I considered that I might be branded as a criminal, but even then, if that is the price for taking steps in the direction of the truth, then so be it!"_

"What about your family then? You, Olivier and Issei, how would it be if- no, how things will be now that you are an outlaw?"

Hikigaya bristled at the question and gritted his teeth. Guilty covered his features, not having a response.

Sengoku's eyes narrowed. Guilt, but never regret.

"Even more importantly, how will this affect Issei?"

His son frowned in confusion, failing to see the point of this question. _"What do you mean? You said it yourself that he's safe."_

"A couple of weeks ago, Issei decided that he wants to join the Navy."

The small widening of the snail's eyes was the only indication of Hikigaya's surprise.

"How would he react if his father is arrested by what he aims to become? What if he starts second guessing himself and his goal? You know that he thinks the world of both you and Olivier, losing you would be no small blown for him."

Hikigaya averted his rotten eyes from his father. When Issei was a bit younger, he used to be like glue, always clinging onto the archaeologist.

"That is why, as contradictory it may be for me to say, you must evade whatever comes after you for your son's sake. You own him that much in return for you indulging in your selfish act." The Admiral stated

"… _What of the bounty? He'll eventually find out about it."_

The report debrief that had happened in Sengoku's office, alongside its unexpected development, came back to the Admiral's mind.

"That's another point that I wish to warn you about. Issei won't know about your bounty any time soon."

The snail narrowed his eyes. _"How can you be so sure?"_

Sengoku rubbed the back of his neck. "Your bounty and the one that belongs to your… business partner, Nico Olivia, are being guarded with severe secrecy by choice of the ones responsible to track you two down. Even my hands are tied."

Hikigaya frowned, mulling over what his father had just said. After a moment, his eyes widened. _"CP-0 is after us?"_

His tone was laced with worry, an understandable sentiment, given who was after him.

Sengoku nodded. "You mustn't contact Nico Olivia any longer, if you two are still in touch. They claim to have a solid lead on her and I frankly don't doubt that it is true. So if you wish to have any chance of escaping their clutches do as I say for once in your life."

Hikigaya glared at Sengoku, surely wanting to rebuke the marine's last sentence but gave up midway, settling for merely agreeing with a nod.

It was rash, maybe even a low blown. But Sengoku didn't care, if he managed to get his point across then he would do it.

"Also, get as much distance as possible between you and Ohara as soon as possible."

A handful of emotions flashed by the Den Den Mushi expression. First was confusion, as Hikigaya tried to connect the dots and grasp the meaning behind Sengoku's request. Then, understanding and at last, pure anger covered its visage.

" _Only those aboard the ship were aware of the expedition and its goal! The inhabitants of Ohara are innocent!_ _You can't hold them accountable for the actions of few!"_

"You more than anyone else that took part in this foolish venture how absolute the Navy's response is when it comes to eliminating threats of this nature!" Sengoku spat with the same intensity

" _Don't_ go near Ohara, only death and destruction awaits there."

Sengoku's grim declaration only served to further anger Hikigaya, but he held his tongue and silently cursed. His father's words held nothing but the truth, a harsh truth that racked the archaeologist body with guilt.

"… _I'm pretty far from Ohara."_ He finally said after swallowing his anger. _"I'm staying at a hotel in Alabasta but I plan on moving on to another island tomorrow."_

"Good. Don't stay in one place for more than three days and avoid getting too close to Shabaody Archipelago. A delegation from the Tenryubito is scheduled to arrive there tomorrow, so the Navy activity in the area will be reinforced."

" _Got it. And Pops?"_

Sengoku blinked. "What is it?"

"… _If worst come to worst, don't let Ise-."_

*VEE VEE VEEEE*

 **\\\**

*VEE VEE VEEE*

As an eldery Den Den Mushi continued to shriek, echoing throughout all of Marineford, the headquarters was filled with shouting and soldiers of all kinds of ranks running up and down, trying to recover from the sudden alert.

"The Silver Den Den Mushi has received a signal of a request to trigger Buster Call!"

The younger and more inexperienced marines look all around them, feeling lost as to what to do in the situation, while some veterans now sported a grim look, while others adopted a stony one.

"The request came from the Gorosei!"

*VEE VEE VEEE*

"The location is from an island on West Blue, Ohara!"

"Prepare ten warships to depart immediately! Gather five Vice Admirals!"

As of now, Ohara was a target for elimination for the betterment of the world.

 **\\\**

Issei felt completely lost.

After managing to reach the docks just in time to catch a glimpse of his mother embarking her warship and promptly leaving as soon as all personnel and supplies were accounted for one last time, he decided to stay there for a while to enjoy the breeze that carried the salty smell of the sea and the unaltered view of the sea and the clear sky that almost mirrored the pristine color of the waters bellow.

One moment, the boy was soaking in the sight, occasionally accompanying with his eyes the seagull's flight, and enjoying the peaceful feeling it gave him.

*VEE VEE VEEE*

"Get moving! We need to ready the battleships as fast as possible! Move men move!"

"Grab as many boxes of ammunition for the cannons as possible and load them up!"

"Everyone to your stations and get ready to loose sails at any minute!"

On another moment, everything changed. The peaceful mood was forcibly shoved away by one of alarm. The few marines assigned to the port calmly doing their tasks was nowhere in sight. Now, the number of soldiers present easily reached the double digits.

The turmoil was enough to make Issei hesitate to move from his spot, his lack of understanding of the situation only making him stare dumbly as the preparations for something unfolded before his eyes.

"What of the Vice Admirals needed?!" Issei heard one officer shout, his voice hoarse from trying to be louder than the noise that occupied the docks

"So far, only Vice Admiral Sakazuki and Kuzan have responded to the Buster Call!" Another answered

A multitude of questions filled Issei's head. Buster Call? Why the need for so many ships? Vice Admirals? How was Kuzan-sensei involved in all this?

"And how are the preparations of the battleships going?"

"We have four ships fully loaded and ready for combat sir!"

The first officer didn't seem pleased by the number. "That's not fast enough! Increase the working speed as much as possible! The faster the preparations are done, the sooner the operation can begin so that justice can be dispensed to make our world safer!"

"Sir yes sir!"

As Issei watched the second officer broke into a sprint with a twinkle in his eyes. He didn't get the whole picture of what was happening, but from that conversation it was a big thing for sure.

The boy smiled. Buster Call was a totally awesome name, and by the officer's words, the Navy was about to go kick some criminals in the butt! He couldn't miss this! He had to go somehow!

It was a fantastic learning opportunity, Issei reasoned with himself.

With relative ease, since the man stuck out like a sore thumb, the boy found his lanky mentor as he took uneven steps in the direction of his designed battleship. Said ship wasn't among those ready to sail, as there still were soldiers hastily loading it with the needed supplies.

Issei's smile grew tenfold. It seemed that today he would have a lesson with mentor. A field trip one by the looks of it.

* * *

 **\- Den Den Mushi: Transponder Snail**

 **-Gorosei: Five Elder Stars**

 **-Tenryubito: Celestial Dragons**

 **-Guest review: Happy to see you noticed that detail, but no, it is Olivier Armstrong. We'll get to the why eventually.**

 **A/N: And that concludes chapter 5! The plot advances to the event that I personally think is part of the saddest back story of the Strawhat crew. A few changes here and there in order to fit in what I have in mind for the story, I hope everyone enjoys them. Apologies for the wait for this chapter being longer than the ones from previous chapters, but free time was a luxury that I didn't possessed over the last month. I'm glad to see by the reviews from the last one that the reception to Issei's mom was positive and, of course, many thanks for those that dropped a review and also to those that fav/foll the story. For those that made a question on a review, I answered them via PM since most answers contained some spoilers. If possible, please leave a review after reading. Until next time, have a great day.**

 **Chapter beta was done by TheComposcreator.**


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